Movement
by Mesataki
Summary: Loose sequel to PMD2. Six Pokemon join together on the path of survival as government conspiracies operate from the shadows. Hidden pasts become known - their stories orchestrated through a long journey. It all begins with a single Movement.
1. Fahren I

_Fahren_

Honestly, sometimes I wish I hadn't been born.

Everst syndrome tends to make things heck for me. Everything continues to be huge and giant – stairs becomes mountains and I constantly need to use phonebooks to sit down. I should be a Prinplup by now – but I'm not. It's so infuriating, because I had a hope that I would evolve into an Emploeon like my parents. A lot of Pokémon are restless – either from the war or something else, and I can hardly blame them. I'm constantly bullied for no reason, and no one can really complain because _everyone's_ being bullied one way or another.

Which leads me to my current predicament…

"Why don't you go home, little baby?" a Monferno named Grahm taunted. He easily threw me against a locker, laughing as he did so.

I won't lie – I'm not a fighter. At most, I can drench others in water (albeit very unpleasant due to the cold climate here), so understand that my best course of action was to curl up and take it. I let the bullying continue because I know no one will do anything about it. Except for _her_, of course.

A blur of orange bolted down the hallway and barreled into Grahm like an artillery shell. Howling in pain and shock, the simian quickly left, leaving behind his victim and attacker.

"Seriously, Fahren, you should really learn how to put up a fight," my savior commented, helping me up.

Wincing as I stood up, I replied, "Eh – what's the point? He's going to come back anyway, but _with bloody vengeance_." My mock serious tone got to her and she chuckled. "Asides from that – I have you. I can do the thinking for the two of us, and all you need to do is cut a swath to the next class with beak and talon."

"Will do." In the next second, I was half-running, half-dragged to World History.

~ * ~

Sixty minutes of torture later, I found myself barely walking out of the classroom. My eyelids were drooping with fatigue and I considered collapsing where I stood to get in a few winks of sleep. However, Sol pushed me through the crowd, yelling so the others know that this was a 'Piplup-Torchic' crossing.

Thought Sol was something bigger? Maybe a Ponyta or even a Moltres? If yes, I'd say you're wrong. Sol, like me, had Everst syndrome. It's actually a _very_ rare disorder, but coincidentally, my best friend was afflicted too.

"It's fate!" she had said the day we met. "Now if only you were a guy, we could be 'star-crossed'."

"Didn't they die?"

"That's not the point!"

But enough about Sol – Grahm was strutting our way with some of his more muscular friends, a Makuhita and a Combusken. Obviously, he brought the Combusken to rub salt on Sol's inability to evolve. Psychological warfare? Two can play at that game.

The Monferno jeered at us. "Aw look, it's the babies!"

"Really? You do know you're about half the size of a regular Monferno, right?" I shot back.

"At least I can evolve!"

"Why would I _want_ to evolve? Being a Piplup is so much more fun – I'm actually at my regular height!"

"Ooh, burn!" Sol chimed in, a slight pun(1) bringing humor to her words.

Grahm was done listening to us by then. He charged, fists a'blazin' as he tried to knock us senseless. Despite her small stature, Sol packed a huge punch and drilled the simian right between the eyes with a solid peck. As he reeled back, the Combusken and Makuhita charged in to preoccupy the Torchic. Grahm, having quickly recovered, set his eyes on me.

I saw _murder_ in them.

Unconsciously, I took a step back. Grahm started to advance – slowly at first before he burst into a full out run. There were two options for me at this point. One, I take it like a Piplup and hope I'll live. Two, make a 180 turn into a wall of lockers. As it were, the odds were not in my favor.

Not until another savior showed up. A streak of blue lightning and, suddenly, the atmosphere was supercharged with electricity. A small Pokémon had rammed Grahm for the second time today, straight into the gut. The Monferno fell back, dazed.

My second savior stood panting from exertion. "If he gets up, I swear…" I heard him mutter.

"Thanks," I said loud enough for him to hear me.

He spun around on his heels to face me. A Pachirisu with a perpetual goofy grin – I could think of no other way to describe him. "I'm Ri – and I've always wanted to give that guy what he had coming."

"You've got history with him?"

"A long history, but I'm just glad he's down–"

"Lookout!" I yelled as Grahm was standing up. While Ri was turning around, I nailed the simian with a solid tackle. The Monferno fell down again, unconscious, and this time, he'd stay down for a while. His two buddies, seeing their fallen leader, quickly fled the scene, leaving a ruffled Torchic behind in all of her snarling glory.

"Holy crap. Nice save," Ri thanked me, looking a little dazed.

"You're welcome."

However, Sol didn't think it was over though. She, like a Tauros, thundered down the hallway and tackled Ri viciously. The Pachirisu met the lockers headfirst, making a sickening cracking sound.

"Wait!" Ri cried, holding his bloodied nose. "I'm not the enemy!"

Flame at her beak, she was ready to torch him, but somehow, Sol managed to stop. "What?" she asked as if she had never gone berserk.

I ran over to help clear things up. "He's a friend. He covered my back when Grahm was attacking me."

"Oh… Sorry – I'm Solsias Torchic-"

"Sol for short."

She waved me off, "I can introduce myself, thank you. And this is Fahren Piplup."

"Dude, when were Torchics so strong?" he complained. Then he remembered his manners and extended the paw that wasn't bloody. "I'm Ri Pachirisu."

"Yeah – I'm really sorry about that. Didn't mean to," she said apologetically as she accepted his paw.

"And I'm the dean, but you all know that. And if you don't, you will, _very_ soon," said a booming voice.

Uh oh…

~ * ~

I always wondered, why did the faculty staff only show up _after_ the fight? We were the only ones left, and they were the ones to throw the initial punches. Yet… here we are now, in detention. _Again_. I'm familiar with the room, alright. Haven't I been caught several times after a fight? Where I did nothing but let myself become a feathered punching bag? Ah, the world is so unfair sometimes… Plus, we're the only ones here… Not that I would love Grahm to 'grace' us with his presence – getting beaten was enough for me.

I sighed impatiently and eyed the clock. Still way too early. Will this ever end? As if Arceus himself was answering my prayers, the fire alarm suddenly went off. I was snatched from my boredom and looked around wildly. Sol was shocked as well from the sudden noise while Ri seemed to be relieved.

"Everyone, get out!" yelled the Slaking supervising us.

I quickly stood up from my seat and made a run for it, Sol tailing just behind with Ri following just as easily. As soon as we reached the outside, Sol took point and began walking home. We followed her.

"That was a lucky fire alarm," I said.

Ri laughed and wore a giant grin on his face. "Luck had nothing to do with it!" he proclaimed. "I modified the system a few weeks ago to go off whenever I flipped this switch," he explained, showing us a small transceiver with a button on it. "It's for those moments when you just need to get away from detention."

I knew there was something more to that, and I asked, "How were you able to modify it? I'm sure the staff doesn't take kindly to students modifying their systems."

Ri's laughter died down to a small chuckle. "Oh that… Er… Don't tell anyone, but I had to break into the school to do that."

"At night?" Sol queried. "Isn't that a little too much just to do a modification?"

"Maybe – but I didn't really care at the time… Besides, I just put it to good use, didn't I?"

I conceded a little, "I suppose… but we should probably change the topic. First – how is it that you're so good with technology?"

"It's my job," he said proudly. "Usually, I'll take several items home like a computer or parts of a burglar alarm. I'd break them apart, get a good look at their insides, and try to figure out how it works before I put it together again. Sometimes I don't, so I sometimes have a bit of scrap metal at home that I use to build other stuff with."

"Like?" I asked.

"Like something secret," he said with a wink. "And what about you, Sol? I noticed you're a fighter."

Sol gave a sheepish smile. "It's my dad. He wants me able to defend myself in a crisis, so he sometimes takes me out to the frozen lake to practice. We've been at it for about twelve years now," she finished, puffing out her chest.

"And that's how we met," I recalled, remembering it very clearly. "I stumbled onto the lake a few years ago and found a gaping crater in the middle of the lake-"

"And you were fishing in it," Sol mused. "Then, we helped build your igloo."

"Wait – you don't live in a house? How do you even stand this cold?" Ri queried.

"An igloo counts as a house," I insisted. "And you have to remember that I'm a penguin. I was born to live in this kind of weather, even if I hate it."

"Why did you even come here in the first place?"

"Because," I said, "I'm a refugee. My parents died, and this is where they sent me."

Ri gave me a sympathetic look. "You too? They sent me to the local orphanage."

Confused, Sol asked me, "Why didn't they send you there?"

"There was no more room," we both answered at once. There was an awkward pause between the three of us before we all started laughing.

However, someone happened to hear. "What are you laughing about?"

We turned around to see Grahm smiling maliciously. Behind him was a little gang he had set up – a group of bored adolescents. I counted five against our meager three. I had a feeling things weren't going to be pretty. There has to be a way out of this, I thought.

"Nothing really." To my friends, I whispered, "Try not to let this end in a fight." If they got the message, they didn't show it. I had a feeling that Ri wasn't the kind to start off a fight like this, but Sol… She had a temper that went with her type. There was not a chance in the Eternal Desert that she would take a threat sitting down.

The Monferno circled me a few times as if he was sizing up my worth. Then, without warning, he shoved me to the ground headfirst. "Aw – she tripped!" he proclaimed.

I began to pull myself up, but then, his foot came down on my head, pinning me there. I could see Sol beginning to fume, white steam literally rolling off of her small body. Ri seemed distressed about the whole ordeal, unsure of what to do. Struggling under the pressure of his foot, I mouthed to them not to help me.

'But what about you?' Ri's face told me.

I mouthed back that I would be okay. At any rate, this wasn't the first time. I could take it for another few minutes, and then we can all just walk away as if this never happened… But of course, Grahm wouldn't just finish with hurting my pride. He kicked me, and that was what caused Sol's temper to snap.

"Get away from her!" the Torchic yelled, launching herself at the small Monferno.

One of Grahm's friend, the Combusken from earlier, had been anticipating this. He jumped forward and kicked Sol twice, knocking her onto the ground. The Combusken, pinning her under his weight, held her head still as he tied a rope around her beak and legs, effectively immobilizing her. Before Ri could even react to the change in events, a Makuhita drove his palm into the Pachirisu's face – right onto his broken nose. The force of the blow and suddenness of it paralyzed the electric squirrel as he hit the ground. Ri laid on the ground, unmoving.

The Combusken held the Torchic for all of his friends to see. Grahm grabbed me by the darker, cloak-like feathers around my neck and hoisted me up into the air. With unbelievable strength, he hurled me up in the air… and I came back. I knew what was coming, and tried to curl up to protect myself… I just wasn't ready. Grahm met me in the air, following through with a barrage of kicks and punches. By the time I fell to the snowy ground head-first, I knew I was covered in bruises. I'm just happy I have feathers to cover up for it.

They hadn't thought of Sol burning through the ropes, though. Furious, the Torchic let her inner flame grow to a monstrous size. Her body temperature soared to impossible levels that would ordinarily kill any non-fire types. The ropes ignited and turned to smoldering ash. Sol, now an enraged mess of feathers, let loose on the Pokémon around her. She kicked and scratch and pecked and everything – but she couldn't use any flames. Getting past the ropes had worn down her fire.

Sol, however small she was, happened to be an insanely good fighter. With a better grasp of the situation than she had before, the Torchic managed to juggle five opponents at once. How she could this, I would never know, but one thing remains clear. If Sol was able to evolve, she'd be an unstoppable force as a Blaziken. I've already seen how her dad acts when he trains her, and it's impressive from what I've seen. Woe be the day when he fights seriously. However, just as she gained the upper hand, wailing sirens sounded across the empty streets. But not one of the six Pokémon fighting heard them. By the time that Magnezone had arrived, they were too late.

The magnet Pokémon sent jolts of electricity through everyone in a wave of thunder, paralyzing the crowd. The streets were quiet again as the rest of the dispatch arrived, arresting all of us one by one…

~ * ~

The police were smart enough to keep Ri, Sol, and I separate from Grahm and his gang. We were jammed into two separate cells, the police thinking that'd it be quieter that way.

I was leaning against the wall, taking care not to move so much. My body was aching everywhere, but I didn't cry for Sol's sake. It was torture for her to watch me be beaten, and Grahm knew that, which is why his attacks were directed towards me and me only.

"How do you feel?" Ri asked. His gray eyes seemed awkward and uncertain. We were only friends since a few hours ago, after all.

I sighed. "It's not going to kill me, I know that, but I'll be sore for a few days. Maybe a limp…"

The Pachirisu looked at me expectantly as if I was going to say more. When I didn't, he said, "That's it? That's all you have to say? No 'I hate my life' or anything?"

"Now that you mention it, my life is kinda sucky." I gave a weak smile. "But that's it."

"How can you just take it like that?" he pressed, surprised about my casualness about it all.

I shrugged. "Just grin and bear it – there's nothing else you can do. At least they haven't really affected me."

Ri whistled. "Dang – you're taking this _very_ well." He turned to Sol. "What about you? How do you feel?"

"I feel like the worst friend in the world…" she muttered from her little corner. She has this thing of staying far away from other Pokémon when she's in a bad mood. In a prison cell where there's nowhere to hide, the corner was her only option.

"Don't," I sternly ordered her. "You've done plenty for me in the past. I'd be more worried about Kuro."

She groaned. "Arceus, what am I going to tell him? That I got into a fight again?"

"Actually, I was more worried about Grahm and his buddies," I quipped. "Wonder what Kuro'll do to the Pokémon that hurt his little baby?"

Ri gave a childish giggle at my words, but he was quickly silenced by a glare from Sol.

"Speak of the devil," I murmured as Kuro walked down the stairs.

"Which one is your daughter?" Magnezone droned.

"The Torchic, obviously," Kuro answered, stepping in front of our cell. "What happened, Sol?" he asked the guilty looking Torchic.

Ri made himself known immediately by pressing himself against the bars, exclaiming, "I'll tell you what happened! Grahm Monferno jumped the three of us!"

"Who are you?" Kuro asked.

"This is Ri Pachirisu," Sol introduced. "He's a new friend I met at school."

His hawk gaze shifted from the rodent to me. "You too, Fahren?" he asked. He turned to Magnezone. "I'll be taking the three of them home, if you don't mind…"

"Certainly, Blaziken…" the Pokémon proceeded to release the locks and set us free.

As soon as we emerged from the police department, Ri left to go home, promising to see us tomorrow.

~ * ~

"Sol," Kuro began, "you can't keep doing this. You'll get yourself killed one day."

The Torchic stared glumly at her talons as she walked alongside the Blaziken. "I know, Dad, but… I can't just sit and let them do what they want. You'd do the same thing if you were in my place, wouldn't you?"

He sighed, clearly stressed. "There are times when fighting isn't the best option. Maybe if you talked to Monferno–"

"It doesn't work like that!" she snapped. "You can't always talk to your _enemy_ and magically _convince_ them to stop whatever they're doing!"

I felt alienated from their discussion. I felt like I was intruding, but I said nothing and just held onto Kuro's back as he carried me back to Sol's place.

"Maybe…" Kuro whispered. "Maybe this is my fault. Did I fail as a parent somewhere?"

"Dad," she pleaded, "I love you to death, but it's just not about Grahm and his gang. It's not just them – it's everyone. The police, the government, the stupid military, it's all their fault, too!"

Kuro looked surprised and hesitant. "Perhaps, I have kept secrets from you for too long," he said slowly. "I trust Fahren enough, but we should continue this talk in the apartment."

"What? What's going on?" the Torchic queried.

"I'll tell you. Just wait."

~ * ~

The rest of the walk was suspenseful – there was something big going on here. Kuro wasn't the type of Pokémon who hid things without reason. We reached their apartment in what seemed like ages. Kuro left me on one of the dining chairs, telling Sol to stay with me. He disappeared into his room before returning with some kind of small chest. Carefully, he set it down on the dining table.

He began opening the locks. "I haven't been completely honest to you, Sol. I… I lied about your mother… She was killed in a raid…"

My eyes widened. A long time ago, the Torchic had told me that her mom had died in a miscarriage. To realize that one's only parent had kept a secret like that for so long… As I thought, Sol didn't react to well.

"Why would you tell me that she died in a miscarriage?" she demanded, her eyes livid with anger.

"I knew you'd grow up hating the military if I had told you the truth…," he muttered. The chest popped open and the Blaziken reached in, pulling out a ranking armband. "Until then, I've wanted to tell you the truth, believe me. Your mother's death was the reason I stopped fighting the war, and the reason why I turned to a different field of expertise."

"You were a soldier…," I whispered to myself, shaking my head.

He continued as if he didn't hear me. "I went into the field of genetics and began research cloning-"

"Why?" Sol asked, wisps of steam evaporating off of her body.

Kuro was quiet for a while before he answered, "To fix my mistakes. I've done horrible things in the past. I've killed innocents, robbed homes, executed helpless prisoners – I should be dead for the things I have done. I shouldn't have lied to you, but how would you take it? Knowing your father was ruthless soldier? I didn't want you to follow the same path I did! I walked down that path and turned away from it, but I still suffer for my actions now."

"But why now?" she pressed.

"What you said reminds me of how I felt when I joined the military. 'Someone should do something about these raids,' I had thought. So I joined and stopped the raids on my city, but then, I had a taste for the thrill of battle. I'm afraid the same thing will happen to you – that you'll rebel against something bigger than just the local police department. I can't lose you…"

Sol was silent for a while, digesting all of this new information. A chaos of emotions must be plaguing her. I knew she wanted to hate her dad, but at the same time love him for everything he'd done. Sol broke the silence. "How did you quit?"

"I stopped killing" he answered. "I moved into the field of genetics – something I had already studied before I joined the war. I made clones. However, months after I had created the first batch, I was ordered to kill all of them. I couldn't do that – they were still all hatchlings… So I fled and burned all of my research. I tried to take them all with me when I left, but they all died."

"None of them survived?" I questioned.

There was an uncomfortable shift in his body language that went unnoticed by Sol. "None," he repeated. "Not a single survivor."

Somehow, I didn't quite believe that.

~ * ~

(1) - The pun is kinda lame, but it's there. Sol is a fire type, and so is Grahm - hence why 'Ooh, _burn_!' is a pun. Like I said, kinda obscure.

(**A/N)**: This is a rewrite of the first chapter of my story. I did this because the original copy was bland and lacked some substance. This one, I've added a bit of conflict. Monferno might be making a return in future chapters – I dunno yet, since he was added into chapter one by the time I finished chapter 10.

Now for some explanations. Arceus, in this universe, is the equivalent of god. I only thought of this later in my story – take that into account for, again, any inconsistencies I overlooked. The Eternal Desert is the equivalent of hell, with Groudon as its ruler. This doesn't mean Groudon is evil by any means. Just think of him as Hades (not the Disney version).

I'll make sure to post up a chapter weekly, but you, the reader, can speed things up if you really wanted to. If I get five reviews, I'll upload the next chapter immediately. Anonymous review do not count (although they still are appreciated), and I expect some reviews that some of you took a few minutes out of your time to write. This lets me know people are interested – plus, it's highly motivating to me as a writer.

On another note, I'd like to thank a few people for finally publishing my story:

-Raichu because s/he beta-read my story up to chapter 5 and was very supportive.

-crouchingninjahiddenwolf because he... Well I'm not sure quite what he did. O.o He did read it up to 11, though.

-PandaPandaka because she has been my bestest friend/sister in the entire world and helped me to brainstorm ideas.


	2. Sol I

_Sol_

Days passed and I didn't feel any better from his revelations. Dad would apologize constantly, but that wouldn't change the fact that he had lied to me. My anger was constantly out of check, something I didn't like about myself. Fahren frequently brooded over the matter and tried to piece together what was going on but there weren't enough pieces to have the whole picture. I was getting restless and I think Ri could sense it despite being our friend for only a few days. And on top of that, I've been having some trouble concentrating in class.

"Sol, get your head out of the clouds and show the class how to factor this quadratic!"

I jolted up and looked at the blackboard. _x__2 __+ 7x + 10 = 0_, it read. _Huh?_, was the first thought that entered my head. I started panicking; I had no idea how to do this problem. It looked a little familiar because I learned this last year, but somehow, it just wasn't clicking. "Um…" I mumbled.

"Psst." I turned my head slightly to see Fahren. Her eyes were glued to the blackboard but her beak was moving. "-5 and -2," was what I heard and repeated out loud to the class.

"That's wr-" The big-boned Hypno stumbled over his words, not expecting me to get it right. "Actually, that's right, Sol." He eyed me suspiciously and stared at me for some time. Vaguely, I was aware he was trying to read my mind. I threw up a wall like my dad taught me to in cases where you would fight psychic Pokémon. It looked like it worked he had a confused expression on his face. He noticed the class giving him the same expression and then immediately continued the lesson.

I sighed in relief and gave Fahren a nod in my gratitude. For a little while, I was distracted, but then my mind began wandering again and I found myself struggling to hear what was being said. The classes were alike this one if not the same. After school, I decided to head towards the frozen lake with Fahren to practice a little battling. It's sorta illegal to do it without being in the army, but no one ever goes to the lake except Fahren, who lives there. Besides, I really needed it – battling was a good way to blow off some frustration.

After a bit of some discussion, we decided to use the slick surface of the lake for practice. Fahren said it was thick enough to support an Onix and should have no problem holding us. Plus, the lake's slick surface made fighting on it a bit more… challenging. It would definitely give my friend another advantage over me, but we both knew I was the better fighter so it would be a good fight. After touching wings as a sign of good will, we stepped back and began.

Fire from within erupted violently from my beak as I used a move my dad told me was Fire Blast. It was coming straight at Fahren and in the back of my mind, I felt something was amidst. I immediately brushed it away and pushed on, digging my talons into the ice for leverage. Fahren used the battle field to her advantage, sliding along the ice as a way to quickly dodge when she couldn't duck or roll out of the way.

I took a moment to breathe in the icy air to regain my strength, in which Fahren stopped her movements to use whirlpool. Letting out a small yelp, I rolled to the side before it took a hold of me. If I get sucked up for even a second, I would pretty much lose. Regaining my foothold, I decided for a less punishing, and less taxing, move, Flamethrower. Fahren countered it with bubblebeam, leaving us at a stalemate between the opposite types. It became a battle of wills. Whoever could keep up their energy and keep it strong, would win.

"_I didn't want you to follow the same path I did!"_

Dad? My concentration broke and I instantly regretted it. My flame died and I was hit full-on by her bubblebeam. But defeat was not an option. Losing was not an option. My anger grew and my inner flame spiked to high levels. Somewhere in the back of my mind, a voice told me that I shouldn't be so furious with myself, but I shoved it away, channeling all of my frustration into one, solid blast of fire.

It was too late when Fahren looked up while recovering from her attack. She screamed as the fire ripped passed her defenses, her right wing crackling as it was burned. The flames died from my beak as I watched my long-time friend hit the ground, writhing in pain as she attempted to shield her burned wing. Guilt overwhelmed me and I felt myself… crying. "Fahren!" I whimpered as I ran towards her.

When she didn't respond, a panicked feeling constricted the back of my throat. "Fahren," I said again. I kneeled down and turned her so that she was facing me. "Tell me you're okay! I didn't mean to, it was an… accident…"

Accident. It didn't feel right on my tongue and it tasted bitter. Had I actually wanted to hurt her? No! Why am I thinking like that? What's wrong with me?! "I-I lost control," I sputtered out loud. "I was just so frustrated that I wasn't paying attention and I… I hurt you."

She was awake, I knew that much, but she wasn't responding to me. My world turned black and a horrific thought entered my head. Had I… killed her? It was dispelled when I noticed her chest rise and fall. I was relieved she hadn't passed away from my violent attack. But she hated me now. I'm sure of it. We could never remain friends for what I've done.

I hung my head. "Fahren," I whispered, "I'm sorry. I… I understand if you hate me, but I'm going to take you home before I leave."

"Sol." I looked up to see her looking at me with unreadable eyes. Just what was going through her head, I wonder? "I don't hate you," she said. "I could never hate my best friend."

Never hate… Tears were still flowing down my cheek, but this time, they were of a different reason. Fahren gave me the tiniest of smiles as I helped her up. "Thank you," I mumbled so quietly, I didn't know if she heard me or not. I shivered and realized it was snowing harder than usual. Was it a blizzard maybe? I think so – the wind's throwing snow all around and I could practically feel the temperature dropping rapidly. The visibility was dropping too, and as the seconds pass, it became harder and harder to see.

As we walked towards her little igloo, I stayed on her left side and made a point not to touch her wing. In the back of my mind, I kept thinking that if I just lightly prod it, it would shatter and my friend would lose a limb. That really wouldn't happen, I knew that, but the fear discouraged me from laying feather on her. I pushed past the cloth door and crawled through the tunnel before I was met with warmth in the living area. I was always curious as to how it was possible to live in an ice structure like this and not get frostbite or something. Of course, Fahren had once given me a long explanation about the cold being trapped in the tunnel and the heat coming from the stove and body heat where it became trapped. Naturally, I didn't get any of it, but I nodded anyways… just because I didn't want to go through the long explanation again (I also didn't want to look stupid, but no one has to know that).

She took a seat on the rug near the stove and grabbed a nearby blanket to wrap herself in. With her free wing, she extended a corner to me as an invite to share body heat. I accepted her offer and drew up close next to her, flaring the flame sac near my belly to increase my body heat. "How's your wing?" I said after a moment of silence passed.

"It's fine…" she said before adding, "We're probably going to have to stay here until tomorrow. The weather looks like it's getting worse and I'm sure there's going to be a whiteout."

I nodded solemnly. Whiteouts came in from time to time, and anyone caught in one the same time as a blizzard is probably as good as dead. A wayward Cleffa wandered outside once in such conditions. By the next day, the local police had found the hatchling's body, frozen to death near the edge of the forest, about a mile away from town. Unable to see, she had wandered too far away from civilization. I shuddered. Not even my inner flame could keep me warm at such a time and I had a feeling that even Fahren couldn't last that kind of weather, penguin or not.

"That's not good, we need to get you to a doctor or someone who can help." The Piplup shook her head, disproving of my idea. "Why not?" I asked.

"Too many questions would be asked… if we were to say that we were battling…" She didn't finish that sentence, and she didn't have to. A law had been passed that no one should battle or participate in any formal duel of any kind under the penalty of death. It was to prevent regular civilians from getting the power to hold a revolt, at least that's what my dad told me. Knowing that, he taught me anyway saying that we'd only be in trouble if we're caught.

"Does it hurt? Your wing, I mean?" What was I saying? Of course it would, the feathers were all charred and melded together.

"Actually… I can't feel it."

I blinked. "How's that possible?" I asked incredulously.

"My nerves must have been damaged… It's probably a third-degree burn."

Of course! I gawked at my own foolishness. Dad drilled me every so often about burns and how to treat them as part of my training. I never understood that since I couldn't actually suffer burn wounds, but now I realized it was not for me but for my opponents..

"It _is_ third-degree, now that you mentioned it. We seriously need to get you to a hospital or something – it's completely serious and… you might _die_ from it…" The last part I had whispered and I immediately felt guilty about the burn, again. Stupid, stupid, stupid!! What made you think that getting her into the igloo would help? What made you even attack her?

"Sol, don't cry. I'm not going to die. At least," she amended, "not like this." I was crying…? I hadn't realized that.

"Um… don't worry about me. And about your wing, I should at least patch it up for you." I got up and instantly felt cold as I left the warmth of the blanket. After getting a bucket, I began to scoop snow into it until it filled to the brim. With a light ember, I melted it down and ordered Fahren to dip her wing into it while I searched for sterile bandages. I looked through her drawers, sifting through layer after layer of warm clothing until I found an old first aid kit near the bottom. I grinned the smile of a Pokémon who just won the lottery and fished it out before opening it. Unwinding a roll, I took my place near Fahren again and started wrapping her wing carefully.

"It's ironic that it looks so bad yet I can't feel anything…"

Finishing up, I laid her down and replied, "Please don't talk like that…" She didn't say anything as I rolled up a wad of clothing and tucked it under her injured wing to elevate it. "Now, just hold still. Don't move or anything until we can get proper help. Otherwise, it's not going to be pretty," I warned.

The Piplup snorted. "You sound like a mom," she said. And with that, she relaxed and started drifting off to sleep. I couldn't help but smile as I threw a blanket over her and took a spare one to wrap around myself.

"G'night, Fahren."

"Good night, Sol."

~ * ~

I woke up to groping paws grabbing onto my limbs and securing chains around them. "What's going on?" I yelled. I kicked and screamed trying to get loose, but the Pokémon holding onto me struck my head, stunning me. I felt faint and anger was rising. Again, I tried to say something but it came out in a jumble of unrecognizable words. They struck me again and I held still, trying to stop the world from spinning around so much.

I could faintly hear a voice through the disorientation in my head, "Solsias Torchic, you are under arrest in the name of the Palkia."

Arrest? No! I couldn't – how?! What was going on? No one should be able to find us here, but they did! I felt myself choking back tears of frustration – just why was my life turning bad? Wait… Fahren! I looked over to where she was last night and prayed to a god she was okay.

She wasn't there.

"Where's Fahren? What have you done to her? Tell me!" I screamed. Fire escaped from my beak as I made it harder for the government agents to restrain me. "Let me go!" I cried as I viciously kicked an agent in the stomach. He doubled over in pain, and I couldn't help but smile when he started cursing.

"Hold still!"

I felt a claw shoving me onto the ground and a hypothermic needle slipping under the skin on my neck. Even as the drug entered my blood system, I still fought as best as I could. And soon, my vision faded away to black.

Just what was… happening?

~ * ~

"Ugh…" I moaned. Everywhere on my body, I felt sore and tired, and I remembered the needle. I managed to get up after a while and found something wrapped securely around my neck. It was… a black collar? No… There was a sinking feeling in my stomach – I was marked for death. "Okay, calm down," I told myself. Find out where you are before you start worrying about that.

I was in the cell located in the basement of the local police station. The bars looked thick and sturdy, and even if I could use my fire (the hideous thing around my neck blocked my ability to use any special attack), I doubt I could melt them. The floor was hard and damp and the only source of light came from the lamp hanging outside my cage. There was no way I could possibly escape.

Maybe I don't need to escape, I thought. Maybe they would find me and Fahren innocent and let us go. But I knew that wasn't going to happen. There was no way we could explain how she got a third-degree burn in the middle of a frozen lake, and if we even could, they'd still execute us. No Pokémon has ever gotten the death collar off while alive, and I was afraid we weren't an exception. And one thought still haunts me, how did they find out? How did they know we were out her battling?

Wait. Footsteps.

Whoever it was, they stopped in front of my cell. I heard the clinking of keys and then the door swung open. A rough looking Venasaur wrapped his vines around me and dragged me across the dirty floor and into another room before depositing me there. I got up and looked around to see a Machoke grab me before strapping me down in a chair. From the other side of the room a Hypno approached me with curious eyes. And to my surprise, I knew this Hypno as my math teacher.

"Sol, what a strange place to see you," he said, bringing his face close to my own. He reached under my chin and forced me to look at him. A strange feeling washed over me as his gaze bore deep into my mind.

"Get out," I whispered harshly. I threw up a wall made of raw emotions I had been feeling for the last few days: anger, sadness, regret, guilt, relief, and strongest of all, frustration. That forced his will out of mind only briefly before he slammed down again. Sweat began to cluster on my head as I maintained my wall against his mental attack.

"Stop struggling," he hissed in my ear.

"N-no, leave me a…a-alone," I struggled to say. I could not let this Pokémon see my thoughts – I could not let him see what I had done, and I absolutely could _not_ let my mind betray me. And once again, I forced him out of my aching head, panting as I did so.

A cruel sneer was plastered onto his face as he went of a different tactic. He took out a ring tied to a string then started to rock it back and forth in front of me. Instinctively I watched the movements and soon I found myself in a black world where I couldn't see. A few minutes later, the darkness receded and I was at the hospital at Fahren's side, holding onto her un-injured wing with bated breath. The questions 'how' and 'what' had touched crossed my mind briefly, but I didn't care about the questions, just the still Piplup in front of me.

A Blissey walked in with a somber face. Why did she look like that? Aren't Blisseys supposed to be happy Pokémon? She walked over to me like she was at a funeral, and a feeling of dread washed. Confusion disappeared when she whispered to me in the quietest voice, "I'm sorry…she's gone."

Gone? It couldn't be… could it? I… I killed my best friend. I looked down dejected and felt my will slip away to mourn for my dead friend. I'm a monster not worthy of love. I'm a monster who kills their friends during practice matches… Was this the event dad predicted would happen? A sobbed wracked my body, and I thought about Dad and how he lied to me… And then, I realized what the cause was to all my hate and anger – it was the stupid government Palkia set up! It was their fault my dad became a soldier and left my mom to die. It was their fault that I couldn't get Fahren to hospital. It was their fault… All of _their_ fault!

I screamed in frustration.

My world was falling.

My soul was dying.

My friend was gone.

The fury I felt put my body in an uproar – the little trickle of flame burst into a fiery inferno that even the death collar on my neck couldn't hold. I unleashed my emotions into a torrent of fire and the flames didn't stop until a force impacted my head several times. In my last waking vision, I saw a dead Hypno on the floor, charred completely black and the smell of death entered my nostrils. Reality struck, then. Fahren's death had been a vision to collapse my defense and once the source was stopped, so too did the visions.

I had killed.

~ * ~

I didn't know how much time had passed since I was knocked out. This time, my surrounding was moving and I could feel the room vibrate. Blinking my eyes awake, I saw I was in the back of a transport truck. My legs and neck had been tightly chained to the wall and to my mortification, I was wearing a muzzle. I couldn't believe it; they were treating me like I was some feral! I jumped up and struggled against my chains, throwing my head back and forth trying to get loose. In the end, I found myself on the floor, panting with exhaustion.

"Sol…"

I looked up from the floor and saw on the other side was a stretcher laid flat on the bench, but that wasn't what caught my attention. On it was Fahren, her wing properly bandaged with an IV stuck under the skin, very much alive. Seeing touchable evidence that my nightmare had been a lie, I tried to get up to touch her good wing. I took a step forward, but the chains pulled me back. I tried to open my beak to call out to her.

She gave an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. I can't move – I'm chained just as much as you are." To my disgust, she wasn't lying. The government truly stooped low to muzzle a chained Torchic and restrain an injured Piplup.

I tried to ask, "Where are we going?", but all that came out was a mixture of grunts and whines. Fahren seemed to understand anyway and said, "They're taking us to a courthouse, I think. We're going to be tried on the grounds of illegal battling." She turned her head to stare at the ceiling in thought. "They've chosen our lawyers for us."

The way she said it seemed so casual, but we both knew that meant our fates were sealed. The government would never give decent lawyers to defend a couple of young Pokémon accused of battling. We were going to die. The idea always seemed so far away, but now, its danger was made real to us and I quivered in fear. If death were to come, I'd rather it'd be quick and painless – but executions were made to be 'examples'. Public torture had to be carried out before the actual killing. The final part, I heard, was a painful death depending on what type you are. For a water-type like Fahren, they would send small pulses of electricity through the prisoner's body and steadily increase it to a fatal voltage. For my own type, we were buried alive in a coffin.

I shook my head, I shouldn't be thinking about this. I have to remain positive, even if my end is certain! We're alive right now – that's all that matters, and I think Fahren feels the same way because her brow was furrowed in deep thought, planning our escape or how to defend ourselves in court. At least, I thought, I'm not alone.

Around ten minutes passed when the truck halted to a stop. The back doors were open and we were ushered out, escorted by the same Machoke I encountered saw earlier and a Weavile. Snow blew into my face as I tried to struggle in vain. The pair pushed us along and into the courtroom where Pokémon I recognized and some who were unfamiliar were all seated. I felt extremely awkward as their gazes bore into my back. They were looking at me differently, now that I'm in chains, I thought. Well, let them look. They won't see me cower or cry! I puffed up my chest feathers to look bigger and intimidating. The effects were loss on the crowd, but at least raised my spirits.

Reaching the front of the room, I was seated in the defendant's chair along with Fahren who was wheeled next to me. My muzzle was taken off, to my relief as well as the chains and restraints. Our lawyer was a large Shiftry dressed in a proper suit for the occasion. His eyes had a glint of some sort and I didn't know what to think of him other than that he looked mean.

"Court has now come into session," a Zangoose sitting on the Judge's stand announced. "The prosecution's opening statement?"

A Wigglytuff (I know, I was surprised, too) stood up. "We are gathered here today to try the defendants Solsias Torchic and Fahren Piplup on the grounds of illegal battling and Torchic for murder. As the prosecution, I will prove that the defendants are guilty. First, as you can plainly see, Piplup has a severe wound on her right wing." With a wave of his arm, dismissing the courtroom chatter, he continued. "The wound is a third-degree burn as shown in her medical report."

I didn't like the sound of this… "These two were arrested in an igloo near a frozen lake – the only fire burning there was the stove – and it's already been established that wasn't it."

"Really?" asked the Zangoose. "I suppose you have something to prove your claim, hm?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." What? How could he prove something like that? "As we know, the reason why igloos are warm is because of the dome shape which keeps heat in and cold out, right?" He paused for everyone to agree with him before saying, "Well… wouldn't that mean it keeps smell in as well? Like say… _burning feathers_?"

There was murmuring in the crowds. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach… This Wigglytuff was a better prosecutor than he looked – if anything, I would at least have to get Fahren out of the blame. If I managed to get all the blame, at least Fahren could live. I looked towards Shiftry, expecting him to say something. When he didn't, I had to say something, "Yeah, but what about the igloo's ventilation?"

A nervous feeling crawled up my spine as I realized that everyone was looking at me. Swallowing, I pushed on, "There's two windows in her house, one for ventilation and one near the top to let some of the heat to escape which could also carry the scent with it! If she was burned by the stove, the smell would've been long gone by the time the government agents got there."

"Torchic, you have a representative with you – why do you not let him talk?"

"Because he won't talk." I turned and saw Fahren, her head was tilted toward the judge and her voice strong. "The odds are against us in any case, and if anything we should at least have the rights to defend ourselves."

The Zangoose looked at us a little surprised. "Then are you forfeiting your rights to an attorney?"

"An attorney that will not defend is just as good as having no attorney at all, your honor. We'll defend ourselves," she replied quietly.

"Very well – Shiftry you are dismissed."

The Pokémon got up and shot us a dirty look before shuffling away with his briefcase. Was it maybe a bad idea to get rid of him? He at least had formal education in law, but then again… I knew in my gut that Fahren was right.

Wigglytuff coughed to get the courtroom's attention. "Well, the scent might not be in the actual igloo as the defendant claims, but the cloth or feather at least, would've absorbed it. As everyone knows, when Pokémon smoke (and such naughty Pokémon at that!) the smell tends to follow them around even if the source was extinguished some time ago. But it wasn't the case was it? The blankets found in the igloo show no indication that someone was burned in there. So we can come to the conclusion that the scene of the crime did _not_ occur in the igloo but outside of it."

The crowds began their talking again but were silenced with Zangoose's gavel. "Order! Order!" he yelled.

I felt faint. Our defenses were coming down fast, could we actually defend ourselves in this one? "As I was saying," Wigglytuff began again, "if the crime didn't happen in the house then it must've happened outside. But how can that be?" he asked. "There are no fire sources burning outside in the middle of winter, let alone a frozen lake! So logically, it would've come from," he swung his arm to point at me, "her!"

Pokémon were in an uproar now, screaming and shouting that we must be guilty. Sadly, I recognized some of these as Pokémon I used to call friends… "Who's to say there wasn't a third party involved?" Fahren asked. The courtroom silenced to hear what the Piplup was saying. "How are you so sure we were battling in the first place? Unless… you have a witness?"

"Oh, how'd ya know?" the Wigglytuff answered unprofessionally. "But we do have a witness!"

"Your Honor, I would like to cross examine the witness," said Fahren. Despite knowing her for years, I never figured out how she remained calm in these situations. Right now, in a stretcher, she was gambling our life through her logic, and from the look of things, our luck was failing us.

"You may, Piplup. Bailiff," Zangoose said to a Bayleef, "please bring the witness to the stand."

With a nod of her head, the Bayleef was out of the room and back dragging… Wait…Ri?! There was no mistaking it – the white squirrel was being escorted to the stand. He was looking very nervous. Being the witness in this case, did that mean he was the one to report us? By the way our so-called friend carried himself slowly to the witness chair, I already knew he was the one. My temper flared and I struggled not to appear too flustered. I didn't want the enemy to know my feathers were ruffled.

If Fahren was surprised in any way, she didn't show it. Her stoic mask was on and she seemed only to be assessing what's going on. The Zangoose pounded the gavel and demanded R-… Pachirisu… to tell what happened.

"You see, it was like this… Fahren and Sol are my friends and I was kinda worried about Sol. So one day after school, I decided to follow her to see what she did. After walking through the snow for some time, they came to a frozen lake. There was an igloo to the side, hidden by some trees-"

"If it was hidden, how did you see it?" I asked.

"Well… I guess I just happened to notice it," he answered. "But anyway, they were out on the lake to do something and I wanted to know what, so I hid myself in a tree and used my fur to keep me hidden. At first, I thought they were going to do something like ice fishing or penguin sliding-"

"Penguin sliding?" Zangoose interrupted.

"Um, yes your Honor. Fahren happens to love sliding across the ice and fishing – so that's what I thought they were doing. But then I saw Fahren getting burned and Sol panicking."

He paused, unsure of what to say next. Wigglytuff took this as a cue to say, "Well… that certainly says something even if he didn't exactly say they'd battled."

"Really? Elaborate, Wigglytuff."

"Certainly, your Honor," he replied smartly. "You see - the witness said that the defendants were on the lake by themselves. No one else was around – so it's pretty obvious Torchic was the one to inflict the wound."

"Does the defense have anything to say to this?"

I blinked and mentally said, of course not. How can we argue against that? "We do," Fahren said. I turned to give her an incredulous look, but she didn't seem to notice. "The prosecution claims that Torchic was the one to wound me, but you forget to confirm if there indeed was a battle. Who knows? I may have provoked Torchic to wound me or she could've lost her temper and burned me. Either way, those are not battles – just provoked assault."

"So you say," Wigglytuff countered. He was _really_ starting to annoy me. "These two have been known around town as close friends. What on earth could've possibly provoked this young Torchic here? I can safely assume that the burn was not an accident since it is a third-degree burn. Her wing is almost literally _cooked_. An accident happens in the time span of usually one or two seconds. "That," he said, gesturing towards her wing, "could not have been in the heat for anymore than four seconds. And besides, why did the Torchic immediately help her friend to the igloo? Wouldn't she have just… fled and left behind the wounded Piplup?"

"I would never do that!" I yelled. All attention was suddenly turned to me, but I didn't pay any attention. "You've got it all wrong! The fact that we _are_ close friends give me a reason to stay!"

"Then explain why you attacked her!" Wigglytuff_ demanded_, pounding his pink fist on the table.

"She… She accidentally insulted my mom…" I lied. The pause was because I didn't know what to say, but I'm hoping that they just took as me having a hard time with this. "Even if it was an accident, I didn't care, because she kept on pressing it. She was telling me how great her mom was… and I never knew mine."

A harsh silence followed, some Pokemon looking on in sympathy. This _was_ the City of Refugees after all.

"Now that we have their attention, deal them the final blow, Sol," Fahren said to me in a hushed voice.

I nodded in agreement then spoke up in the loudest voice I could get. "There was no battling that day, just a provoked Pokémon. Your Honor, the real culprit here is-"

"Is me."

I looked to Fahren, thinking she said something, but no… She was just as surprised as I was. In the courtroom doorway stood… Dad? Why was he here? The courtroom lost control and everyone began arguing and shouting, but over what, I didn't know.

Recovering from his shock, Zangoose hammered his gavel shouting back, "Order! Order! I will have order or we will stop the trial!" He roared viciously to demonstrate his point. Fortunately it worked and everyone became still. "Now, who are you?" he asked, directing his question towards Dad.

"I am Kuro Blaziken, father of Solsias Torchic," he said, walking into the courtroom with an air of power.

"And you claim you were the one to burn Piplup?"

"Yes, your Honor. I was the one."

"Then you will testify." It wasn't a request, more of a demand. I didn't know what to think, and I was suspicious.

"Sol… I had gotten angry at her. Her grades had been dropping and I wanted to know what she had been doing in her free time. So I followed her and when I saw that she was _playing_ when she should have been studying. My frustration got the better of me and I attacked. Fahren stepped in the way though and was consequently injured while covering for her best friend."

"But," Wigglytuff complained, "That doesn't match up with Pachirisu's testimony."

"It was drawing close to whiteout conditions when Sol was injured – Pachirisu knew that there were two Pokémon out on the lake, but not necessarily my daughter. And as you see, our feather patterns are similar – orange and yellow!"

My dad was deliberately lying, and he was hiding it well. The only way I actually knew that was because that wasn't what happened. Dad was dead set on getting the fall that was meant for me. Tears sprang up to my eyes, but I choked them back. This was no time to show weakness. I should be strong, for Fahren and for Dad.

"But that can't be, you stand out more than they do compared to the snowy background!" Wigglytuff argued.

"I had been wearing a white coat at that time and it covered most of my body except my head – which is what Ri saw."

"Pachirisu!" the judge called. The squirrel jumped up.

"Yes, your Honor?" he sputtered.

"Did you actually see Torchic out there?"

"W-well… no. I made an assumption because they were the only two Pokémon I saw go towards the lake – and the area's pretty secluded."

"What? Why didn't you actually say this earlier?" asked Wigglytuff.

"Because you didn't ask if I actually saw _them_ or if I saw someone else."

The prosecutor was turning red in frustration and he was looking a little bloated. He deflated, drew himself up and continued with, "Well – even if there's a possibility that Blaziken was out during the time, it still doesn't prove a thing. And even if Blaziken was the one to inflict the wound, that still means that we have two due for death row."

Dad smiled eerily. I knew from habit that when he was smiling, he had a rock-solid plan. "Ah, but we have yet to hear Sol's testimony."

"My testimony?" I repeated. I was confused, what was I suppose to say?

"Yes, testify about your experience with Hypno and why you killed him."

I winced at the word 'killed'. The idea was still appalling, no matter how it looked. I looked towards Fahren for any help. She solemnly nodded and told the court, "The defense calls Solsias Torchic to the stand."

Uneasily I made my way over and began my testimony. "After waking up in my cell, I was taken to, I think, an interrogation room for questioning. That wasn't what happened.. Instead, a Hypno tried to get into my mind I think and find out what happened."

I stopped, thinking that it was all I needed to say. "Sol," Dad said, "describe how he did so."

"Um… He hypnotized me so that I would fall asleep and then he used… nightmare? It was dark and I had a vision where Fahren died. And then I... Then I…" I couldn't finish that sentence. I could only look down at my talons, suddenly afraid of what I've done. A wave of nausea washed over me in a sudden rush, and

Dad absorbed this information with a nod and turned to the Pokémon present in the court, his arms open as he gathered their attention. "So you see, it was an _invasion_ _of privacy_ and showing one of her worst fears to her. Now, I don't now about any of you, but I most certainly would act uncontrollably if I were in her position. And if you recall, she was forced asleep at the moment, meaning she was not aware of her actions!"

"I object your honor!" Wigglytuff yelled. "A murder is a murder, no matter if they didn't know it was the case!"

"Objection overruled, continue Blaziken."

"Overall, what I'm saying is this: Sol was not in the right state of mind when she killed Hypno – and I believe that was part of the risk of mind-reading Hypno took when he looked into her mind. He might've been too smug with the collar on, but in the end, it was his own fault for provoking such a confused mind. Therefore, Sol killed in _self-defense_. And also, I would like to make note that a Torchic's anatomy causes them to release flames involuntarily when they are under extreme stress. Added onto the uncontrollable fire is an ability called Blaze, a self-defense mechanism that kicks in when they feel they are in critical danger which could cause small embers to reach the strength of an inferno."

"So, are you implying it was all an accident?"

Dad shook his head, "No your Honor, I'm _saying_ it _is_ an accident."

The Zangoose paused for a moment, assessing his current verdict. Finally, he announced, "Have we a verdict, jury?"

The Pokémon stood up and their spokesman said, "We have decided that Blaziken is guilty of aggravated assault, Torchic is accounted for culpable Pokéslaughter, and Piplup is innocent of all crimes."

"Right," Zangoose pounded his gavel one more time and said, "Your sentence, Blaziken and Torchic is prison and the length is undetermined at the moment. We have our verdict – the court is adjourned."

~ * ~

A/N: I'm a Phoenix Wright fan, could you tell? :3

And just for the record, I did my best to make the court proceedings as believable as possible. If by any chance there is something wrong with the court system I showed in this chapter, I don't really need to hear it. And I know for sure that's not how lawyers act in court. Wikipedia can only take you so far in the field of accuracy.

I know there fighting in the last chapter, but it's not considered a battle until you use a move. There was kicking and punching, but no 'moves' used yesterday, so fighting and normal types have a free ride. Fire blast was obviously a move, so that's why they're standing trial. : \


	3. Ri I

_Ri_

I felt really, really guilty for what I did. I mean – I was worried about them and all but I never imagined they were this close to getting a death sentence. As everyone got up to leave, I had stayed behind, burying my face in my paws. I'm such an idiot… I'll make it up to them, I swear I will. Fahren and Sol, after all, are my friends and friends look after each other right? So with that in mind, I left the building and ran to the hospital where they were taking her.

I walked into the building and immediately noticed a security camera watching me closely. I made my way over to the counter and rapped the counter with my paw to get the Chansey's attention.

"Excuse me, miss, is it possible for me to go visit Fahren Piplup?" I asked in my most sincere voice. And just for the effect, I gave her the puppy-eyes. As I expected, she melted under my sorrowful gaze.

"Well, honey, I normally would let a little guy like you in, but she's not available for visiting right now."

"Then when can I come back?" I asked.

The nurse Pokemon turned around and brought up a database of logs where each patient was located. After a bit of some typing, she pulled up Fahren's file. She frowned – I don't like the look of that – the frown, I mean. "That's strange," she said. "There is no release date or set visiting hours for Piplup… I'm very sorry, but I can't help you."

I nodded quite solemnly and left the hospital for home. Why was there no date set for her release from the hospital? It was puzzling to me in a lot of ways – I mean, it shouldn't take that long for a third-degree burn to heal, would it? It's like… it's like… It's like they never intended her to leave! That last thought sent me in spiral of dizzy thoughts. I didn't know what to make of it – did she get an innocent verdict just to never leave the hospital? No, she would've like, I don't know, caught on and left, with force if it came to it. But then… why?

As I climbed into my little tree house, these thoughts began to circle my mind and prevented me from thinking about anything else. It's just an error, I thought. That's probably it, but it seemed so very strange… I felt the need to get this little mystery cleared up – it was the least I could do for them after getting them arrested and all that. But, before I do that, I still need to finish up my little project…

~ * ~

I woke up feeling very sore the next morning. Yawning, I realized that I had been up all night working on my project and fondly, I remembered it was finished. With a cry of joy (a very masculine cry, ahem), I picked up the finished device and tied it to my paw. Shaking with excitement (and who wouldn't be), I pressed down a button to which the screen lit up and showed the list of functions it could perform. At the top of the screen was a built-in clock which showed 8:30. Wait a minute… Holy Shiftry! I'm gonna be late! Fahren and Sol are gonna… are gonna… I stopped and hung my head.

That's right. Sol was in prison and Fahren was in the hospital recovering. I looked down dejectedly at my newly built wrist-computer and wondered if it could be used in anyway to help. Perhaps, I thought. An idea was snaking into my head and the gears began turning. Ooh, I'm brilliant! Forget that crap they teach us in re-educational school! I've got bigger fish to fry.

I sat down and logged into the computer on my desk, taking a jack and plugging it into my wrist computer. After a few moments, I found myself staring at a screen demanding a password and username. I licked my lips in anticipation – it was time to put my hacking skills to use.

~ * ~

Hours later, I had access to the mayor's computer – I admit, it was one tough cookie to crack but no computer is a match for Ri Pachirisu! Smirking, I began to browse through the town's government related files. I scrolled down the screen to the most recent date and found emails sent to some unknown person. Curious, I opened it up and skimmed through the contents.

What I found wasn't good.

At first, I thought I was just mistaken, but by the time I read through the second time, I was certain. I seriously could not believe it, but here it was – in the database no less! It was an order from higher ups to ignore an accident that would happen in the next few days and to prevent the police from investigating to thoroughly. In other words, they got an assassin to do off with Fahren and pulling rank on the mayor to prevent him from revealing the truth.

I dropped my head between my paws and thought hard on what I should be doing. Fahren was my friend and all… but to go against a hired assassin? How the heck am I suppose to pull that off?! I'm just one Pachirisu! Still though… I owe the two of them for accidentally dragging the law into this.

I think I know what to do now. For the next few days, I gathered all sorts of information about the hospital from hacking into its database and read up on different ways to sneak into the hospital (who knew articles like that actually existed?). I needed to get Fahren out of there, I knew. I would go through all the trouble to get to her room, but if she refused to go with me, then I don't know. So, with a few days research behind my back (days avoiding the truant officer – I haven't gotten back to school yet, and I don't plan to), I got ready by the sixth night.

The walk there (I didn't have a car, so what?) was boring and tedious, nothing happened much but I had to keep hidden. What would the others think if they saw me running around wearing black, carrying ropes, and at the dead of the night? Besides, staying away from view wasn't that hard, just cold – really, really cold. The black layer of clothing I wore wasn't exactly a good insulator. By the time I wanted to go home and get a bigger coat, the hospital was in view. The thought of knowing that _I_ was suppose to be the guy to break into the gray, looming building chased away bitter frostiness. Quicker than you could blink, I was over by the wall and had started free-climbing towards an open window on the fifth floor. I grimaced as the gloves on my paw weren't doing much for the stiffness brought on by the icy weather at night. As I was climbing up, I kept thinking that I was gonna fall because I couldn't feel the individual digits any more. When I finally reached the window, I was relieved.

Making sure to disable the security in this area with my wrist computer (I _really_ should give it a name…), I climbed in and snuck past the sleeping patients before reaching the door, but not before closing the window – it was way too chilly outside, I didn't want the sick people to get sicker. I hacked into the camera that should be on the other side of the room and saw a Chansey hopping down the hallway in the opposite direction I was heading. So, I opened the door and shut it gently as I quietly made my way to the stairs. Security was also disabled there and I made sure I had feed on several of the operating cameras that watched who entered and left the stairs. Now, it would be a really bad thing for someone to come here because there are so few hiding spots here. Why am I telling you this? It's because someone _did_ enter the stairwell while I was going up.

I was panicking. Struggling to remain calm I jumped swung down from one floor to the one directly below me and hid under the stairs there. I squeezed in as tight as I could and pulled in my tail, hoping that this someone hadn't notice me. As they walked overhead, I held my breath and waited. Did he pass over yet or what? I dunno why, probably 'cause of panic, but questions were starting to go through my mind. Are the last few days a total waste because I got caught? Or did he even see me at all?

When I stopped that, I heard distinctly the opening and closing of a door. Carefully, I checked the feed for the cameras and found a Pokemon just exiting the stairs on the third floor. I exhaled a sigh of relief and breathed in – which wasn't smart seeing as the bottoms of stairs tend to get real dusty and dirty. I sneezed a couple of times and thanked Arceus that no one heard me. I continued the stairway climb until I reached the tenth floor. Once again, checking the feed, no one was there and I disabled that camera before I went in.

I found myself in a corridor full of doors. I took a random one closest to the wall – there were guards posted outside Fahren's room. Not a good idea for a small Pachirisu to go up against a bulking Machoke and Weavile, no? So I planned to use an alternative route to get where I wanted. In the next couple of minutes, I found myself crawling around the ventilation system. I know, it's cliché, but, hey, it works!

Once I was at a particular grate, I removed it and carefully dropped down. I did this all very quietly, because I could see the shadows of the guard from under the doorway. Carefully, I tip-toed my way near Fahren's bed and gently shook her awake.

"Fahren!" I whispered quite harshly. Was she awake or- "Ow…!" I hissed. She had punched me, whether it was out or reflex or something, I didn't know – and it hurt like heck! And my nose was still healing too… I didn't know Piplups could hit this hard!

"Ri?" came her voice, confused. "How did you get here?"

Luckily for me, she was speaking very quietly. "Okay, look, I dunno how much time I have but, I need to spring you out of here. There's an assassin that's going to come after you in a few days." I must've sound ridiculous, straight out of some action movie, even.

"Assassin?" she asked incredulously. She seemed to believe me although having a hard time doing so. "Why would an assassin come after me?"

"Because they don't like your little innocent stunt and they want you gone." That wasn't me. Or Fahren for that matter.

Our heads snapped to the open doorway where there was a black Absol standing over the bloodied corpses of the two guards outside. I stared in speechless horror. My first time seeing _dead_ Pokemon – and I didn't even hear them die or nothing. "Who are you?" Fahren asked. I'm amazed she could even talk without stuttering.

"I am Arro, and I've been sent," he lowered himself to the ground, "to kill you!" He pounced. Within the few milliseconds I had, I shoved my friend out of her bed and ducked away from his attack. He whipped around to attack the prone Piplup, but then I struck using my iron tail. He was dazed for a moment, and I tackled him with spark. Brushing my attack off, he struck me once with his claws before turning to Fahren. From across the room where I landed from his blow, I began to charge a counter attack. Fahren, even with a burned wing managed to stay vigilant and evaded more or less all of his attacks. Being at a severe disadvantage, I knew she couldn't last long, which is why I had to stop him, if not stun him at the very least. Lightning crackled through the air as I discharged thunder bolt, striking the Absol in mid-swipe.

The Absol stunned, I yelled to Fahren, "Get up and run! Do it!"

Despite her confusion, the Piplup had enough sense to get up and run, clutching onto her burnt wing in defense as she fled down the corridor into the maze-like hallways. I grinned a weak smile – she had a head start at least. I got up to distract that Arro Pokemon for as long as I could, feeling dizzy but ready to take him on.

Or so I thought.

In the next second, he swiped at me with a Night Slash attack and I found myself flying through the window. The cold air was an unwelcome change from the warmer hospital air-conditioning and I gasped to breathe as thin air came rushing into my lungs. I had to think fast – in a few seconds, my skull would hit the concrete and my brain would go smoosh – which isn't a good thing if you plan on living! I hugged my tail as a nervous habit, but then, I an idea struck me. It had to work; otherwise… I didn't want to finish that thought.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. Some light escaped past my eyelids as my tail started glowing white, and I turned my body vertical so that my tail was directly below me. If using iron tail could absorb the impact of the fall, then there's a pretty good chance I'll make it through. Gritting my teeth, I made sure that I was ready to absorb the impact by keeping my other limbs a little loose.

I braced myself.

_Bam!_ My body went wild with vibration as my glowing tail collided with the ground! I fell over into the snow, dazed. It worked. I'm still alive, and my tail was intact. I threw a look over to the side and saw a mini-crater from where I landed. I whistled. Man, I'm good! I smirked, and I pulled myself up feeling like jelly. Looking up at the window I fell out of, I wondered if that Absol could pull off that kind of fall. It wasn't that I was conceited or anything, it was just that he seemed abnormally strong. Sooner or later, when I was out of the heat, I would need to look up his name. What was it again? Arra? Ra? Ro? Or… that's it – Arro. I gotta remember that.

All thoughts aside, I staggered into the shadows and checked the security camera feed from my wrist computer. I had to sift through a lot of cameras to see that Fahren was on the fifth floor and running down the stairs as fast as she could. I grimaced, that Arro guy would catch her before she made it to the ground floor… And then I remembered, the hospital had set up a new security feature – lockdowns on certain floors. The idea was to contain some possible Pokemon gone insane from grief or what-not. It was a good plan, but it would attract the police or worse, government agents. It was, granted, a little risky… but a lot better than having my 'sis' end up dead before she could escape. So once again, I cycled through which floor Arro was on. He was on the seventh floor and she was on the fourth.

Using the codes I had for the P.A system, I said into it, "Fahren, get into the one of the corridors, now!"

From the feed I was getting, she had listened. Arro was still going down to try to directly follow her. I smiled in victory as I turned on the lockdown for the west stairs. It closed up all of his exits with metal plating made to resist all elements. A ferocious roar of anger followed. I shuddered. I had a good idea who was next on his hit list. In the back of my mind, I heard sirens and remembered all that stuff with the police coming. I blanched (you couldn't tell beneath all the fluffy fur and black clothes). Even if Fahren made it out, how could we get away from them?

I frantically looked around. Hold on – the parking lot! Why didn't I think of that? So I ran over to the fastest looking car and broke in by bashing open the window. I quickly climbed in and hot-wired the car (I admit, I've never done that before, but it's all wires so it couldn't be that hard, right?). In a moment, there was a steady hum from the engine. Score another one for Ri! Now… hopefully I could drive this thing. I mean, I've only had my learner's permit for like a month now, but I couldn't really use it if I didn't have a licensed adult or even a car…

At least I passed the written test – that still had to count for something, right? So, I placed the car in reverse and began backing it up so that it was right next to the hospital entrance. As I did, Fahren came stumbling out, collapsing in the snow and breathing hard.

"Fahren!" I jumped out of the window and helped her up.

"Ri? How did you get here so fast?" she asked, barely in a whisper.

"No time for answers – get in the car!" I was tempted to say, 'this is a kidnapping,' but I staved off the urge. This wasn't a time to joke. And besides, she'd probably take it for real under these circumstances. I opened the back seat door and placed her on the seats. I peeled off the jacket I was wearing and wrapped it around her, leaving me in my black hoodie. Clambering into the front seat, I pushed down on the gas pedal. Slowly, we made our way out of the parking lot.

~ * ~

In a few minutes, I was driving like I had been driving my whole life. Who needs a learner permit when I can drive just fine by myself? I took my eyes off the road for just a few seconds to see Fahren struggling to remain awake.

"Ri… why did you come?" I heard her voice ask me.

"'Cuz I heard you were about to take a dirt nap – and I can't have that happening to my friend, right?"

She looked at me, her beak forming the word 'Oh' for just a second. Then she just smiled softly and laid back down. "Where are we going?" she asked.

Where…? I mentally slapped myself – I hadn't thought that far. To be honest, I didn't know if I would even get this far. "You didn't plan, did you?" her voice asked again.

"Of course I did!" I laughed nervously. I made a mental list and scrolled through all the possible places. Maybe home… I mean, I didn't do all the camera disabling for nothing, right? So that's where I was headed to, home. We could probably use it for like a one night before they find us again. If that Arro Pokemon really works with the government, then they'll find us soon and I wanted to keep moving.

"Ri?"

"We're going to my place." I added, "They probably don't know it was me who did it yet. So… my place."

When I didn't hear a response, I can only assume she was nodding. Hope she's okay back there. I mean, she's just wearing one of those hospital gowns underneath the makeshift jacket blanket. Despite being a Piplup, she's probably pretty cold at the moment. Luckily, we reached my home in the next few minutes. When she was safely in the tree, I pointed out the drawers to her and let her sift through my clothes. They probably wouldn't fit that well – the sleeves and pant legs were thinner as they were made with my species in mind, not penguins. Better than nothing, I guess. I made my way outside and settled on a branch after retrieving my coat. Even in the dark, I could see the little fogs coming from my mouth as I exhaled. I sneezed, suddenly.

"Great," I muttered. "A cold." I rubbed my paws together vigorously to generate a little heat and pulled my tail closer to me. In a moment, I heard a muffled call, indicating it was okay to go back inside now. I sighed, female Pokemon were so insecure nowadays. I jumped back through the window and inspected Fahren head to toe. She was dressed in one of those oversize shirts you get for prizes, y'know?

"Seems big on you," I commented.

She shrugged. "Well, it was the best fit – all your other shirts don't exactly agree with my wings."

"Ah well, excuse me for not planning ahead for the day I grow wings and fly away."

"You're excused," she joked back.

At that moment, both of our stomachs growled at us. "Um…Let's see what's in the fridge," I suggested.

With a brief nod, I walked into my kitchen and opened the fridge and called out some articles of food. "I got… cheese, leftover pie, and a salad…"

"How old of a pie are we talking?" Fahren inquired.

"Um…" I thought hard, when was I last eating this pie? "Er… at least a month ago."

She made a face. "Never mind then."

"Oh, and there's a large frozen Magikarp in here… It's the bad, free kind though-"

"Gimme."

I paused. Was Fahren, the most passive Pokemon I know, demanding something? I shook my head, but I still saw here eying the ugly fish. I shrugged and handed it over to her. She took it ecstatically (for lack of a better word, I guess) and skewered it before she started roasting it over my stove. I stared at her for a moment – I didn't know Renny (I'm gonna call her that now, it's funny) liked fish. I shook my head and reached over for the salad. It was still edible – no visible mold growing on it, key word – visible.

I leaned on my desk chair slightly as I stabbed the leaves and chewed thoughtfully. What's going to happen now? Me and Renny were most likely one of those runaway criminals… um… fugitives I think. If that was the case, how long could we run before getting caught?

While I reflected carefully on this, Renny had taken a seat on my bed with a slightly burned Magikarp. Like a hungry Mightyena, she tore into it and turned it into a pile of fish bones in just a few seconds. Wiping her beak clean with a napkin, she asked, "Do you know what we're going to do now?"

"Uh…No, actually." I gulped, it was the honest truth and I'm not sure what lay ahead in our future. The Piplup folded her wings, carefully to avoid touching her injured wing, and sat there for a while in silence. I continued eating my salad, watching her from my peripheral vision (corner of my eyes for all you slow folk out there!).

"Well… as our current situation demands, we can't stay here for long, can we?"

I nodded solemnly. She was right, and I figured I couldn't come back later. And I suppressed a sniffle, I wasn't going to cry in front of girl, although I _really_ would miss my tree.

"But where can we go?" I asked, moving around a lettuce leaf with my fork. My appetite had disappeared.

"Before we think about that," she said, "I think we should focus on Sol and Kuro."

My eyes widened. She was right – those two were in jail. If… if… they sent an assassin after Renny, they're probably gonna change their sentence to execution or maybe stage an 'accident'. I gritted my teeth, I couldn't let that happen. If I could save Renny, then dang it, I'll save them, too – this time with a buddy! "You're right." I said.

The rest of the night, I spent sleeping. Renny told me she would keep watch if anyone decided to come and would wake me up when she couldn't stay awake anymore. As I curled up in my bed, I thought hard on the coming days. My life's changing, but at least I still had friends.

~ * ~

"Ri, wake up."

I blinked my eyes open and rubbed them to force them to stay that way. My speech very much slurred, I asked, "What's goin' on?"

"It's almost dawn, we should probably get going," she said.

Yawning, I nodded in response and began to loosely toss my essentials in my backpack. And by 'essential', I meant stuff that'd be important – like pots, pans, waterproof matches, emergency flashlights, and money. I had to close my eyes as I bashed my Spoinky-bank. Seeing a childhood memory smashed by your own paws will do that to you. I sighed, and picked up my meager life-savings – around two hundred Poke and two coupons I don't remember putting in there. Pocketing this, I climbed down the tree and shoved my backpack into the trunk. Renny was already in the passenger seat and I joined her in the driver's seat.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Should be." I amended, "Have to be."

She nodded and I re-hotwired the car. Moments later, we were on the highway – on the road to the jail where Sol and Kuro were kept. It was about a three hour's drive to there with one or two pit-stops, and while we were re-fueling or driving along, they could be executed at any time. I was all nervous like and fidgety. Driving kept me distracted though, otherwise, I'm positively sure I would go insane. Renny seemed to be holding up just fine though. She was staring off into the horizon, apparently thinking of something.

I didn't want to bother her… but driving could only get so exciting. Plus it's been only fifteen minutes – that leaves, like, two hours and forty-five minutes left! Way too long to just watch the road. So I started whistling. I was tempted to start singing, but I thought that would be pushing it. After all, I _did_ have a passenger, and let me be frank, Pachirisus don't sing. Whistle and play instruments maybe, but never_ sing_.

Renny shot me a side-long glance in slight curiosity. I coulda sworn I saw a smile, otherwise, I imagined it. The tension in the air lifted just a little and I found it a teensy-easier to breathe. On and off, I would just randomly whistle. Finally, I had one of my rare 'genius' sparks and decided to _actually_ talk to the Pokemon seated next to me instead of trying to find alternative methods to distract myself.

"So…" I began. "Any idea to break 'em out or are you still thinking on that?"

She looked distant and, for a moment, I felt a little hurt at being ignored. "I might have some… but I don't have a rock-solid plan yet…"

"Well, let's hear it!"

Her face scrunched up in thought and she leaned back into the chair. "For starters, we need to figure out how to get in or guide her out."

I nodded. "Right…"

"If we go in, it's probably best if you did."

"Oka – wait. What?!" I was shocked. Renny was suggesting for me to go in – did she suddenly go nuts when I wasn't looking??

"Think about it," she calmly replied. "The hospital break-in? You managed to get in with little to no problems, am I not right?"

"W-well, yeah…" I sputtered. "But, it's not the same for breaking into a high-security prison!"

"True, but what about Kuro and Sol?" I gulped. She was using the guilt trip and I was falling hook, line, and sinker. Two lives were at stake and I was the one who put them there in the first place.

"Erm…" I paused, not sure what to say. I finally sighed – Renny's too tough to argue against. If I got stubborn, we'd be arguing the whole time and nothing would get done. Then, at the very end, she would _still_ get me to see it her way. "Fine," I said reluctantly.

"Thanks," she mumbled. "Now, about getting in – is it possible to break in the same way you did with the hospital?"

Too many security cameras, I thought. Plus, these are higher tech and it'd be pretty hard to hack into them. Whole bunch of trip-lasers and guards, too. But…I think I could pull it off. If I could just disable the security system, then all I'd have to do is keep outta sight. "Maybe," I answered.

I'm still a little unsure about how I'm gonna do it, but give me a few hours and I'll have all the access codes on my little wrist computer. Plus, I remember packing my black clothes so that's some comfort. Rodent agility comes in handy – plus I could tazer any Pokemon that could see me. Granted, I would need to hide the unconscious body, and they might have some sort of protection… Possible but foolhardy, I thought.

"Better than nothing," she muttered quietly.

"What if I get caught?" I asked. It's a question that I didn't particularly want to be answered but the probability of it rang true. I was dead afraid of what my captors could do to me – or what if the assassin came back again? Last time, I barely escaped in one piece…

"You won't," she assured me. "But in case you do, they'll have to face a rampaging Piplup…"

I smiled at that. There was a message that was hidden behind the joke: Ol' Renny would come for all of us if I couldn't make it. Speaking of which, she turned her gaze towards the horizon as her thoughts drifted off again. Maybe she was thinking about plans on getting a Torchic and Blaziken out – maybe she was thinking about fish.

You can never tell with Piplups.

~ * ~

A/N: This one was a little difficult for me. There were some technical details I could've portrayed better, but I thought it was overall okay. From the looks of it, this story isn't doing too well. Wish it was – I've put a lot of effort into it as suppose to "Post Capture" or "Again," which both took a little less than a night to write.

R&R, please. :P


	4. Kotre I

_Kotre_

I pushed through the crowd of low-life scum to get my meal. Ironically, I was tagged as one of them with my bright orange shirt with the numbers 4666 printed on the back. Sighing, I accepted the disgusting gruel that was my dinner and strode across the floor, my claws clicking against the dirty tiles. I sat down at a mostly empty table and began eating. I'm not going to beat the around the bushes, I hate Pokemon – too noisy, too obnoxious and definitely not worth my effort to even socialize.

A Rhydon at my table snarled and glowered at me disapprovingly. Even through the long-sleeved uniform, I could see the rock-hard muscles bulging against the fabric. I was undeterred and glared at him right back. If I didn't have the damn collar on my neck, I could give him a nice taste of my leaf blade – he'd be in for a real treat then. The Rhydon eased off a bit. Smart Pokemon.

As I was sipping a bit of the gruel, two trays clattered near mine. I looked up for a moment to see a young Torchic seated next to me and a tall Blaziken settling down next to her.

"Hope you don't mind," she chirped, annoyingly chipper.

I growled at her, "I do mind." Her age was of something curious to me – just what was a Torchic doing at a high-security prison?

"Then excuse us," the Blaziken said softly.

"Hmph." I knew I was being rude, but I didn't care. The Torchic ( by now, I can assume that the two of them must be father and daughter by the look of things) was persistent though. She offered her wing to me.

"I'm Sol," she said.

From the corner of my eye, I could see the Blaziken looking on worriedly. Was he sincerely afraid I was going to hurt her in some way? Probably, but she more or less had nothing to fear from me. I had a certain code of honor that I followed, and picking among the weak were not listed among them. Instead, I swatted away her wing and continued eating.

The Torchic immediately looked crestfallen and I almost felt regret. I sighed. It was just an introduction, how hard could it be? "Kotre," I managed.

"Pardon?" she asked.

I nearly rolled my eyes. I didn't like repeating myself. "Kotre. My name is Kotre Grovyle," I said.

There was a definite change in her personality. Her tiny body swelled up and she replied, "Nice to meet you! This is my dad, Kuro Blaziken."

Said Pokemon began to extend his claws to me. Warily, I gripped onto his forearm and him likewise. We shook claws and mentally sized each other up. His grip was strong and his eyes weary – not a Pokemon I would intentionally mess with.

"How exactly old are you?" I questioned the younger. It seemed strange to me – pre-evolutionaries were never charged with crimes. They were usually too young.

She tilted her head quizzically and answered, "Around fifteen or so."

I nearly gagged on my gruel. "Fifteen?" I repeated.

"Yep, but I'm turning sixteen this year," she elaborated unnecessarily.

She was just a little younger than me, I realized. I myself was only seventeen, but to fifteen and still stuck at pre-evo? Unheard of, I thought. "Aren't you suppose to be a Combusken by now?" I asked.

"Yeah… I guess I'm a late bloomer or something. No one can explain it, but we live with it."

"We?" There was yet another, as it would seem. Already, this Torchic was anomaly but two?

"I had a friend back where I use to live. Smart Piplup, exactly the same age as me and never evolved, too!"

Did she just say had? I wonder what happened to that relationship. The conversation ended there, and I as I finished off my meal, I could feel the gaze of the Blaziken boring into my back. It was maddening, but I had no intention of giving in. I put up my tray and began trudging back to my cell. I had a few things to ponder tonight.

~ * ~

When I was awoken the next morning, I was ushered into the courtyard for some 'free' time along with several hundred others. As I stretched, I noticed the Rhydon approaching me with some buddies. An Arbok with a nasty looking Flareon, things should get interesting, I thought.

They didn't even say anything to me, just attacked. The Flareon leapt at me with a tackle, bearing his claws with the Arbok coiling up for a pounce. As they both flew towards me, I leapt forward and somersaulted over them, leaving exposed backs for my advantage. Before I could let in a slash or two with my claws, however, I was scooped up in powerful arms. Knowing a bone-crushing bear hug was following, I managed to kick the Rhydon's soft underbelly sharply.

He released me and paused to breathe momentarily. Big mistake. Smirking, I built up tension in my legs and jumped up to uppercut him, claws outstretched. The Rhydon fell backwards, clutching onto his rocky jaws as red blood flowed past his knuckles. I wasted no time and I turned around, sidestepping to narrowly avoid the Arbok's underhand pounce. The Flareon followed closely by, his mouth opened exposing the sharp canines as he came at me in bloodlust. I drew back my arm quickly and smashed my palm into his nose with a satisfying crunch. With the other two momentarily stunned, I set my sight on the remaining Arbok.

It cowered and slithered away before I could even lay a claw on him. I sneered victoriously. They were of no challenge to me.

"Ah!" I snarled as white-hot pain seared through my body, overcoming my senses. The collar…I was being 'punished' for fighting again. The spectators of my little battle began to thin as the authority figures approached me.

"Kotre Grovyle – how many more times will you fight before you learn your lesson?" It was Pargyn Honchkrow, warden of the prison and a bastard at the very core.

I nearly yelped as the settings on the pain I felt increased. Humiliated, I was forced to kneel, trembling with pain, to the fat crow. "Release me," I hissed.

"Hm, what did you say?" he droned in a smug voice.

I repeated in a louder voice, "Release me!"

The crow turned away, looking disinterested in me. "Release you? Such impudence." To the Mr. Mime next to him, he commanded, "Raise the power."

I jolted forward in pain, curling up instinctively in a vain attempt to protect myself. Distantly I heard a roar and several noises followed. Were they sounds of fighting? I couldn't tell, my mind was too dazed to even remember my name, but a moment later, the electric-fire pulses in my veins stopped. I gasped for breath and managed to look up.

I saw a Torchic smashing the remote and Blaziken plowing his way through waves of guards with only his fists. Even in my last waking moments, I felt a keening to test his strength for myself.

~ * ~

"Rise and shine, 4666!"

I blinked my eyes open and realized I was back in my cell. The day had been wasting and my time was coming. I looked to the calendar I had posted on my cell wall – seven days 'til execution, and I didn't even feel fear. Perhaps my life didn't matter to me… or maybe it seemed too distant to fully grasp.

I stood up and began doing some exercises to get the blood flowing through my veins. There was limited time to work with, but I still had a chance to escape. No plans though, I thought solemnly as I balanced myself in the air with one arm. Even for the two months I've been there, I've yet to come up with an idea how to escape. My arm wobbled and I stood up again, sighing. There was no way I could do this by myself… And I had no intention on sharing my escape with anyone. All of us are here to die within a few months, and those aren't sentenced without reasons. Needless to say, helping a murderer out was something I don't plan to do any time soon.

Maybe that Blaziken could help…Kuro was his name, I think. He'd very much like to get out wouldn't he? After all, he had a young daughter to look after with a scheduled execution hanging over them like a black cloud. I remembered about briefly glimpsing Kuro fighting yesterday as I was released to eat.

I know it would seem strange for death row prisoners to be able to walk around like this, but it shows how casual executions are. For every face that disappeared from the crowd, another took its place – that was a pattern I learned to recognize in my time here. As for execution methods, no one knows. Traditional practices involved methods based on type, but in here… it's different. Pokemon just disappear on the date of their time and are never seen again. I've heard rumors on lethal injections and nitrogen asphyxiation, supposed 'quiet' deaths, but I've never seen them carried out…

My thoughts were shoved out of my mind as I walked into the cafeteria. There was a certain Blaziken and Torchic I needed the help of. I found them eating quietly in the corner, away from the other inmates here. Moments later, I sat down at their table with a bowl of gruel. They looked up in curiosity, but upon seeing me, they gave me a wry smile. I grimaced at them – they were a mess of ruffled feathers and bruises. They took their fair share of beating when they helped me out and I couldn't help but feel a twinge of remorse.

"Hi, Kotre!" chirped Sol, happy as ever despite her minor injuries.

For a moment, I said nothing, pondering what I should say to them. I decided to ask, "What did you do to get death row?" It was a rude question, I know, but the answer I had wanted to know for some time.

The Torchic blinked and the Blaziken looked mildly surprised. "Death row? Me and Dad are just serving our time – that's all."

I shook my head gravely. These two… they've been set up I realized. The Palkia's government wanted them dead. "That can't be," I said. "In here, we all have the death penalty."

The small Pokemon started paling to an almost unhealthy color. "B-but… We – They… They said just jail time… There's no way… Executed?"

"I had feared worst…" the Blaziken spoke softly. His daughter turned to look at him with confused eyes that questioned him. I turned away to stare at the other convicts as they chattered on trivial matters. The idea of impending death had not sunk in for all of them, I knew. It took me a month to realize my death was coming and I could naught to stop it. With these two, though… hope might still live for me.

"Dad?"

"The trial was just a cover-up – our fates were already determined… I think we will 'disappear' very soon in the future."

"Two months is how long they hold prisoners before execution," I added, not bothering to look in their direction. "No more, no less…"

Kuro shook his head. "We're going to disappear in a few days, I'm sure of it," he said. "Usual prison rules won't apply now, I'm afraid."

I bared my teeth – this Pokemon was getting annoying. "What makes you special?" I snarled. Perhaps, I should reconsider recruiting his help…

"It's not me that's special – it's what I know."

What he knows? My interest piqued and so did the Torchic. We both leaned a little closer wanting him to elaborate. He said nothing, though.

I scowled.

Of course I don't get to know. I'm a stranger they've only known for a few days. It's only logical to hold back information that the government wanted to know from me. What could it be, though? Maybe Kuro Blaziken was a spy? Maybe he was a part of some conspiracy? Or perhaps it was only important in his eyes? I sighed, nothing can be gained from these two, I decided.

"Kotre, how long have you been here?"

I turned to look at Sol. When did she become involved with my affairs? "Around five weeks," I answered quickly.

"That's almost two months!"

I rolled my eyes. "Looks like someone can do math," I said sarcastically. I had no patience for this, my escape needs to be soon…

"Hm…" The Torchic looked lost in thought for a moment. "Hey… Do you think we could plot an escape for the three of us?" she asked.

"I don't know," I stated. "Maybe, but that all depends on what _you_ can do…"

The small chick tilted her head slightly in thought. "I'm smaller than most of the convicts here – I can get into places Pokemon can't normally go, but I can't use any of my fire attacks…"

That's right, Torchics depend mostly on their special attacks to get them through and are at a disadvantage when using just physical attacks. With that collar on, all she could really do was peck and scratch… The Blaziken was a different story. The collar can do little to prevent him from punching and kicking with his talons. From what I saw yesterday, I can safely say he's a good fighter and hopefully his daughter as well despite the obvious handicaps.

_BUZZ!_ Breakfast ended and Pokemon began piling out the door in unruly columns, pushing and shoving. They were being released for some air again.

Except me.

They thought I had caused more than enough trouble yesterday and decided to keep me in my cell. For the rest of the day, I paced my cage and wondered what plan was possible.

The clear skies transformed into fingertips of dusk which then abdicated to black skies, and I was left alone in the dark – alert and brooding while others dreamt. It was that time when everyone was sound asleep when they came for me. I didn't go easily though and I dealt my fair share of pain to the Pokemon dragging me out of my cell.

~ * ~

The black hood was pulled off of my head when I felt myself chained to an operating table. I glanced quickly around, seeing gray-tiles stained with blood and others dressed in sterile clothing like some twisted hospital. Cylindrical chambers filled with some sort of crimson liquid filled the room in neat columns. In them, I saw grotesque shapes of what I believed use to be Pokemon. I felt revulsion creep up my throat as I struggled not to vomit. Echoes of the long dead plagued my head, screaming and begging me to escape before their fate befell me. I struggled fruitlessly against my chains as my instincts were driven mad with overwhelming fear and dread. Time crawled slowly by as I continued trying to pull free from my cursed chains and I hissed angrily.

I still had a week! Why am I here?

Desperate for an answer, I found none. My strength ebbed away as my struggles became sluggish. Fatigue set in and I was unmoving in the room with Pokemon adjusting machineries of all sorts. After what seemed like hours, there was another Pokemon strapped to the operating table, screaming it wasn't his time. With a startled revelation, I realized it was that Rhydon I had fought the other day. He looked around kicked and screamed like he was nothing more than an overgrown hatchling. Upon noticing me, he begged them for me to take his place.

I heard a door open, and I craned my head to see Pargyn walk towards us with a wicked smile on his curved beak. I locked eyes with him, tacitly demanding an answer.

He cackled, seemingly insane. "You've been a nuisance in my side for a long time, Kotre Grovyle. After a little talk with the staff, we all agreed to cut back on your time left living along with this trouble maker…" Limping slightly, he made his way next to the Rhydon. "And you shall be the first to go… just to show Grovyle what fate awaits him…"

"No!" screamed the Pokemon, writhing in his chains. They rattled eerily as he screamed for mercy as they began inserting several wires underneath his skin. "Please, let me go! No!"

A Clefable flipped a switch in the corner. Rhydon began to shake uncontrollably, his body began to twist and change morbidly as something was taking place… I dare not describe his fate in detail. But in the last throes of his life, I saw… a mass forming in one of the cylinder tanks. The mangled body was covered in a mess of dull grey feathers and barely looked like anything. Briefly, its dull eyes flicked opened and the hideous beak parted in a silent scream. In the next second, it died, and I could see blood dribbling from the eyes and beak.

I heard a sigh and turned to look at a Garchomp, one of the scientists. "Another failure," he remarked.

The casual way he had said it shocked me. I slowly turned in horror to see the remains of the Rhydon swept into a bag and tossed into an incinerator like his entire existence was just… a pile of junk no longer needed. "What… Just what are you doing…?" I asked.

It was Pargyn who answered me. "Science… or research on cloning, whatever you want to refer it as."

"Clone what?"

"The Twice-Saviors," he answered softly as he walked away.

I had no time to ponder the meaning of those words. Quickly, scientists were approaching me with wires, readying to repeat the experiment for their 'validity'. I closed my eyes, trying to block out the horrific scene that was to be done to me. My thoughts and feelings wandered into a misty forest… where Treeckos, Grovyles, and Sceptiles lived in every corner – guarding their territory fiercely. It was…home. I kept that image close to my heart as I felt needles entering my skin.

I waited for my violent end.

The next moment was filled with panicked screams. Distinctly, I could smell the burning flesh that belonged to the scientists. I chanced opening my eyes to see the chains melting from a heated blast of fire that came a little too close for my liking. I blinked wildly in muddled confusion and saw around me lifeless bodies strewn about, one of them I recognized as the charred corpse of Pargyn Honchkrow. Three pair of hands had gripped onto my arm and lifted me up to a standing position.

"Sol? Kuro? I asked. It was like a dream – I was about to die when these they and a Pachirisu came in… It seemed almost too good to be true and I wondered if I _was_ dead.

"Kotre!" cried the Torchic, leaping up to me in some sort of bird hug. I absentmindedly returned it, speechless for words that I lived still. Then, I followed them out the doorway.

In the motion of running down a maze of white-washed corridors, my composure returned and I felt calm once more. This was the escape plan taking plan, whatever it was. With no knowledge of what was to happen, I followed them closely – ear slits open for any orders that needed to be issued. Even though I don't particularly enjoyed being commanded, this was no time to argue with my saviors. As we neared the stairway that would take us to the main prison building, they all stopped.

"Wait a minute," the Pachirisu ordered. He pressed a few buttons on some sort of device on his wrist and I immediately felt some slack on my neck as the collar loosened. Amazed, I reached up and tore it off – feeling air around my raw neck for the first time in weeks. I could feel my suppressed power returning to me and I felt as strong as ever, despite the ordeal I had encountered in the lab. I realized, I owed these three a debt of gratitude for saving me from a gruesome and painful death…

"Intros can wait for another day, let's get going," the Pachirisu said. He turned back to device and a few minutes later, I could hear the clicking of hundreds of cells being opened. He was starting a prison riot by letting _all_ of them out to be handled by the guards. "Goodbye evil-secret-underground lab, hello to riot!" he exclaimed. Thought I may owe a life debt to him, I still couldn't resist rolling an eye.

Thrust into the middle of the fray, I, along with the Torchic and Blaziken, fought off all who got in our way as the Pachirisu led us through crowds of convicts. From above, a Gliscar came down, stinger and claws raised to attack.

"Above us," I shouted. Kuro heard me and Sky Uppercut it, sending it flying backwards. Any Pokemon that came close to me, I swiped them with Leaf Blade and kept them away from our little group. The Pachirisu and Torchic were helping by releasing bursts of power every other time to ward off anyone who had the gall to face a group of five un-collared Pokemon.

We managed to get to the security door on the other side where he used the device, again, to unlock it. With that out of the way, it was only a matter of running now. The four of us tore through the hallway and out of the exit, passing by a very stunned receptionist holding onto a phone. I turned around for a second, rushing the receptionist and cutting the line with leaf blade before following my allies out the door.

As we exited the building, a spotlight came over us and I looked up to see a Starraptor with an Ampharos on its back. Too late was it, when I saw the streak of thunderbolt hurtling towards us. I gasped in pain as the electricity ripped through my body and nearly collapsed. The Pachirisu, I saw was mostly unaffected and even returned the favor with a charged thunder from the sky. The Starraptor shrieked in pain as it fell to the earth along with the Ampharos. A car pulled up from the road – an ally apparently.

We filed into the car and sped off on the road. Starraptors, Pidgeots, and Swellows were beginning to swarm the sky now, each one with a rider of its own.

"We've got company," the driving Piplup said to the back.

The Pachirisu climbed through the open sun roof, calling back over his shoulder, "On it!"

Standing on the roof, the squirrel readied itself as bolts of lighting were shot at it. There was an immediate yelp that escaped from his lips as he absorbed all of it. With all the flying types up there, this little guy was our ticket to victory. Yelling a battle cry of sorts, it discharged the energy in a brilliant blast of blue to the heavens. A dozen fell from the sky, leaving many more to fight. In my window, I saw other Pokemon catching up with us on foot. There was a pack of retriever Arcanines following us. If they caught up, they could slash the tire with their claws and that would be the end for us.

I rolled down the window and with a gesture of my arm, I painstakingly ripped the earth from the ground before flinging it at the pack. The move was taxing, as it was not of my type. Nevertheless, I continued the action again and again pelting them and avoiding the deadly bolts of flame they shot at me. I continued the onslaught until their strength gave away and they collapsed in the middle of the road, battered and breathing hard from the attacks of my rock slide. I smirked victoriously and turned my attention to the fight above. Sol and Kuro had joined in – Sol stood next to the Pachirisu combining flamethrower and thunderbolt together. Kuro was leaning out one of the window and was intercepting stray jolts of electricity, fire, and other of the like with his fire blast. I joined in on the effort and began hurtling rocks at the above, missing often but dealing enough damage to knock some out of the sky.

Our combined efforts eventually started to drive them off and they sky began clearing of dark shadows. The sun rose, unobstructed, and bathed the world in gentle light. There was a victory whoop from the offensive team from above as they climbed back down. The Torchic immediately took her seat between Kuro and I, while the squirrel settled in the passenger seat.

"Now we can do intros," proclaimed Pachirisu as he leaned back contentedly. "Okay…I'm Ri Pachirisu, that's Renny-"

"Fahren Piplup," corrected the penguin driver. Was she that Piplup Sol mentioned? Strangely, she was driving with one wing while the other was all bandaged up. "And you would be…?" she asked, directing the question at me.

"Kotre Grovyle," I answered without missing a beat. From next to me, Sol chirped – happily, safe and reunited with her friends, while her father stroked the flame crest on top of her head lovingly. The Pachirisu started bragging about the device he had, calling it a 'multi-purpose wrist computer'. The occupants in this car were celebrating their escape and evasion of the 'law'. Too early of a celebration, I thought. It's not over until it's over… And I had to ask,

"Why did you come back for me?"

A thick silence fell upon the merry group. It was the Torchic who broke this silence. "We didn't want to leave you behind – I mean, we already agreed to escape together, right?"

"But why go to the trouble of saving someone you barely know?" I argued.

"It's not whether if they knew you or not," said the soft voice of the Piplup. "You wanted to be saved, right? That's why they came."

Sol nodded rapidly and Kuro spoke, "When we came to your cell, you weren't there and we feared the worst. With help from Ri, we managed to guess your location in the underground lab-"

"Lab?" The Piplup had no idea what we were talking about, naturally. She was not of the rescue team.

"Yes, there was a secret laboratory underneath the prison," replied the Blaziken. "They used condemned prisoners for their twisted experimentation. When we rescued Kotre, he was nearly going to have his aura drained from him to give life to clones…"

Clones? I thought back to the gray matter that had blinked at me before dying. Was that hideous thing a copy? "Clones of the Twice Saviors…" I thought out loud, remembering the words of the deceased Pargyn.

"What was that?" Sol asked. She looked at me with… was those concerned eyes? I haven't seen those in… Never mind.

I shook my head. "The warden mentioned something about that before he died. Does anyone know who or what the 'Twice Saviors' are?"

There was a chorus of 'no's in the car and I sighed. It was no matter anyway, it didn't concern us.

"Anyway, we need to go into town and get something to eat. The closest town is around," the Pachirisu scrutinized his little device carefully before answering, "a six-hour's drive away."

I frowned. "Isn't there another three hours nearby?"

"That's where we came from. Everyone knows we're criminals there, so it's suicide to go back," our driver enlightened me.

I nodded slowly and stared out the window, pondering our next move.

~ * ~

"Wake up, Kotre!"

Who was that? "I'm sleeping. Go away," I answered.

The Pokemon persisted and jabbed me in the side harshly with what felt like… what? A beak? I jolted slightly and glared at the offender, a Torchic.

"Don't do that," I said, stretching as I got up from my seat.

She chirped happily in response. "Before you get out, you may wanna change into a new set of clothes."

Hopping out of the car, she made her way into the nearby fast-food restaurant. I looked down at myself to see a torn convict uniform and almost slapped myself for not realizing it. There was no way I could go out in public dressed like this and _not_ get arrested by the local police. But as luck would have it, the little Torchic left behind a pile of clothing. In the tight confines of the car, I managed to dress myself and found that the clothes fitted very well if not perfect. Zipping the vest up, I pulled on the hood and left the car to join my…friends at the table.

"Hey, Kotre, buddy!" Ri waved to me. "We didn't know what you want so we didn't order any food for ya."

I nodded in response and went into the line to order something filling. The whole place stank of grease and oil, and I had a difficult time choosing a menu item that wouldn't stuff my heart with fat. Tentatively, I gestured with my claw at some sort of sandwich that most definitely was unhealthy. At least, I consoled myself, it would taste a lot better than gruel.

"That'll be 1.55 Poke, sir."

I froze and mentally kicked myself hard. There wasn't any money on me. In the corner of my eye, I noticed a white blur next to me with a wallet, and in the next second, I heard,

"Here ya go, ma'am," from Ri.

"But-" I started to complain. That was not my money to use – I don't need charity.

"Relax buddy, the meal's on me since I'm the only Pokemon who brought money."

I stopped and reluctantly accepted this. My food was ready by the next minute and soon I was eating with my 'friends'.

"Mm, much better than that stuff they gave us, huh?" Sol asked, keeping her voice relatively low.

Fahren shook her head, "The food here is pretty terrible, though. I wonder what they fed you…?"

The Torchic shivered comically, "Trust me there, Renny. You don't wanna know."

"Renny…?"

"What? Ri's calling you that and I like it." Sol tilted her head slightly and her expression sank into a sort of guilt. "Unless, you don't want me to call you that?"

"No – it's perfectly fine!" the Piplup stumbled. "You can go ahead and call me anything you want! It was just… sorta unexpected, I guess."

The Torchic nodded and continued pecking at her food, savoring the taste as her head inclined backwards as she swallowed. Fahren ate in a similar fashion, except she held the food with one wing and only tilted her head to swallow. I nearly laughed at the two of them – they looked so different but had the same eating patterns. For a moment, I was also half-expecting for Kuro to eat that way, but no dice. He was eating like a regular biped, eating his sandwich with two hands, condiments dripping down his hands.

Our little lunch didn't last though. As we were finishing up, Fahren wasn't able to finish her meal and instead wrapped it in a to-go bag which she carried with an uninjured wing. We decided to stroll the cold streets while we decided our next course of action. Sensibly, we kept our voices as low as possible and tried not to be blatant with our words.

"Where can we go? I mean, we're basically fu- er… Pokemon that no one wants to have around!" Ri said.

"I think we should head southward towards warmer climates. If we go there, surviving will be much easier than up north," Fahren replied.

Sol nodded but then asked, "Yeah, but won't… um….it still be chilly down there?"

Kuro nodded also in response. "Yes, but it's better than staying here. Besides, we need to focus on now and think about the future later..."

At this, everyone nodded at his words, including myself. And we continued to wander around town when Sol spoke up. "Hey, look over there!"

Over to our right was a dark alleyway, shadowed by the tall brick buildings that were on either side. I closed my eyes to see what other foolishness this little chick had up her sleeves and noticed an unusual lump of clothing that shuddered there. We walked in hesitantly, Kuro lighting the way with fire from his hands. Fahren and Sol knelt down near the figure and performed a quick amateur diagnostic before turning towards us.

"He looks starved and ill – we probably need to get him to shelter – and quick!" Sol explained as Fahren tried to help the poor Pokemon up.

Knowing that the starved Pokemon was too tall for her, I grabbed a hold of his arm and lifted him up on my back so that I was carrying him. As I did so, its face was revealed to me. I nearly dropped the Pokemon in shock.

"A Riolu," I breathed. I've heard that they had been exterminated by the government for nearly two decades…just like the entire population of Blade Leaf village. Discriminating no one, they killed all – whether it was a seasoned warrior, village elder, or a new hatchling. Everything had gone up in flames and I had sworn vengeance…

No one but I knew of this history, and rightfully so. I haven't had full trust or intimacy to share with the group. To them I was an enigma. To me, they too, were a mystery.

But what of the ill Riolu?

~ * ~


	5. Riolu I

_Riolu_

When things came into focus, I was expecting myself to be in a back alleyway where I was passed out. For a moment, I thought they had finally captured me until I had a better look at my surroundings. It was a room – a motel, I think, and there were a few Pokemon laying about, sleeping, except one. I blinked when the Piplup turned from the window to look straight at me with an unreadable expression. Were they hostile? I started tremble, whether it was because I was cold, feeling ill, or I was just… nervous, I didn't know. But what did I have to fear from a mere young Piplup – and a wounded one at that! From what I saw, the threats here were the Grovyle and the Blaziken, and both were snoring on the floor.

The Piplup walked away into a different room, leaving me sitting in bed. Embarrassingly, my stomach growled viciously at me, demanding food. I nearly fell back, but I managed to stay sitting when the penguin Pokemon returned. Something was thrown at me and my reflexes kicked in as I caught it.

"Howie's Hamburgers," I silently read the label on the white paper bag. As I reached in, I felt something warm and soft and pulled it out slowly like I was some priest taking care not to offend the god. With the object full out, I peeled off the wrapper. It was a hamburger – half eaten, but still food! I let out a childish yip of happiness and began wolfing it down, savoring each taste of the fatty food.

I heard a sort of small chuckle and looked up from my eating to see the same Piplup sitting on the foot of my bed. "You must be really starving to actually _like_ that," she commented.

"Erm, yeah," I said as I swallowed a bit. "Oh, and thank you." I was so caught up in eating that I nearly forgot my manners. I blushed a little and took another bite to hide it.

"It was no problem – just leftovers from lunch," she explained. "And by the way, I'm Fahren Piplup. You?"

"Riolu," I answered. There was a pause where the only sound was me finishing up my hamburger.

She tilted her head just slightly, reflecting her questioning glance. "Is that it? No given name?"

"I don't have one…" I replied honestly. "I've always been just 'Riolu'."

"Ah…That's a shame."

"It's okay, it's just a name," I replied, shrugging it off. "So, Fahren, was it?" I received a nod and opened my mouth to continue. "Why am I here?"

"What, you don't want to be?" she asked. "If you want to leave, there's the door right there although everyone will be disappointed that you'll be gone."

Was that a threat? No, it couldn't be – she was laughing at the last part, and she seemed sincere enough. "No," I said. "It's not that. I guess I'm just sorta weary with strangers."

She nodded in understanding. "I get that – especially given your species. You must have done a lot of running to get to where you are now, huh?"

The strange thing was, she was right. I've been running ever since I can remember. Everyone I met either wanted to turn me in or just wanted me plain dead. I laughed hollowly. "Yeah…that's quite an understatement." Did they want to turn me in or… kill me? I chanced a look at the door, wondering if I could get out without getting caught.

"What's wrong? You seem a little jumpy now," she noticed. Was she going to drop the façade and attack me? I tried to still my mind, it was just a Piplup – I could take her. But if she woke the others…?

"I'm p-perfectly fine," I stuttered. My lie was bad, I knew it. Fahren got up and walked over to the side of the bed so that she was right next to my head. Tensing up, I felt surprised when I felt a cool wing at my forehead.

"Hm, still burning up. You should get some rest – that fever won't go away if you keep awake. Oh, and I'm fifteen, I'm not a child like you think I am."

As she slid off the bed to go watch the window once more, I felt a burning in my cheeks. Somehow, I felt that it wasn't because I was ill.

~ * ~

A claw shook me awake and I jolted up to see a Grovyle standing over me. "Wake up," he hissed softly, pushing into my arms some clothes. "Put these on."

New clothes? Being as gentle as I could, I ran a paw over the clothes and admired how new it was. The jacket was definitely different as it had a different, smoother texture. I think I had been given a… windbreaker jacket. Was that it? I didn't know and I could care less – a jacket was a jacket. I bolted off to the bathroom for some privacy as I changed out of my old brown cloak.

"You look a whole lot better," commented a Pachirisu as I walked out of the bathroom. "Oh, and morning! I'm Ri Pachirisu – and I already heard you're Riolu. That's kind of a boring name," he observed, rather frankly, "so let's think of a new one."

"Kun-Kun!" called out a Torchic who happened to be eating with Fahren.

"Kun-Kun?" I repeated.

There was a vigorous nod from the Torchic. "Yeah! You like a Kun-Kun to me."

"Kun-Kun…" The name seemed silly and childish… but… I liked it. "Kun-Kun Riolu," I repeated approvingly. "I am Kun-Kun Riolu."

"I couldn't think of a better name, myself…" said Ri, looking like had wanted to be the one who came up with the name.

The Torchic stood up and pointed a small wing at herself. "I'm Sol, nice to meet you!"

I gave a small nod towards her. "Likewise," I said, meaning it.

To my left, I sensed a tired and wearied aura. It was a tall Blaziken, kneeling down to eye-level with me. "Do you plan on leaving us?" he asked softly.

"I don't know… I don't want to – but I can't take advantage on your hospitality…" I replied, a little shame-faced

"You're welcome to stay, but this is a commitment that might cost you your life or freedom."

Leave them after all they had done for me? Unthinkable! Without hesitation, I answered, "I'll go with all of you, if you'll have me."

There was a nod of approval from everyone, save the Grovyle who didn't look up from his watch at the window. I gave a genuine smile for the first time in weeks. What once was a nameless, lonely Riolu living in the streets was now a Kun-Kun Riolu in the midst of some Pokemon who _care_ enough about him to take him in at his weakest. To my delight, someone tossed a greasy-wrapped hamburger at me, which I unwrapped hungrily.

"Thank you!" I barked happily as I continued digging in. Some movement was caught in the corner of my eye and I looked up to see Fahren and Sol settling down next to me.

"Here," said the Piplup as she handed me a bottle full of little white tablets. "You best take some now to help with your fever."

I nodded, almost forgetting that I was a little ill, and swallowed a tablet while drinking a bit of water. "Who are the other two Pokemon?" I asked once I finished swallowing.

"That," Sol answered, gesturing toward the Blaziken, "is my dad, Kuro Blaziken."

"And that's Kotre Grovyle," pointed out Fahren. With a slight pause, the Piplup spoke out again, this time of future plans. "The idea was to head south at first, but while I was walking around, I hear from conversations that a blockade is being set up around the city. Any car going in or out will have to go through a checkpoint, so our best bet is to sneak out on foot."

"Why don't we just go through by force?" I asked. It seemed like a simpler idea to me. That way, the car would be kept.

Fahren shook her head and scratched her chin thoughtfully. "It's not like that. If we get by undetected, then they'll continue to linger around this area for a while. They'll think we're still in here and waste time trying to choke off all possible routes."

Sol and I both nodded at her logic. But then, I had a thought. "Why are you avoiding the law?" I asked. It didn't occur to me at first because I've always been living on the run, but these five? What did they do?

"They want us dead – some of us are _fugitives_, y'know?" Sol clarified.

"I see…So are you two… erm… on the lam?"

"I am, but the government wants to kill Fahren for some reason."

There was a serious expression on the Piplup's face as she said, "My life was attempted on while I was resting in hospital – there was an Absol named Arro who nearly killed Ri and I."

"Wait," a voice called. The Grovyle named Kotre leaned into our little circle, his eyes full of contempt. "'Arro' – was that what you said?"

"I…did," answered Fahren hesitantly. Was there some bad blood between him and the Absol?

The Grovyle straightened up, tense. His claws were clenched tight and he seemed to be muttering to himself.

Sol blinked and nudged him slightly to get his attention. Worriedly, she asked, "Is there a problem?"

The murderous look in Kotre's eyes disappeared and was replaced with a much more…malicious shine. "Not at all," he replied a little, too friendly in his tone.

I fidgeted with my ear slightly – a force of habit, mind you, and I shot him a look of suspicion. Could this one truly be trusted? And then I silently laughed at the irony – here was I, a stranger who has barely been here for a day and _I'm_ the one questioning another's loyalty. In any case, I would just have to put up with it. He was going to be a traveling companion now, and that in itself had some merit to it.

Sol, however, seemed oblivious and completely satisfied with his answer. After a few seconds, she bounded off to the other two, sharing the idea Fahren had in mind. The actual plan still needed to set up, though, so we were called into a meeting.

~ * ~

We were seated on the floor in a six-Pokemon ring with a large map of the city in the center. The lights had been dimmed as to prevent any unwanted attention, but as a result, the room felt much more suspenseful. I looked nervously at the grim-faced Pokemon to my left and right – they seemed a whole lot different than the morning.

"Okay, from the intel I'm getting from the local police department's website, we need to stay away from these two main roads," Ri paused to take out a red marker and circled a couple of thin gray lines. "The cops are watching it really close-like – they're expecting us to run headlong into this kind of stuff and they're thinking we'll be using a car."

"What we're actually going to do however," Fahren said as she took over, "is escape by using the sewers. We'll cut through the city, underground, and emerge around here." She circled the docks near the river that flowed through. "We'll stowaway on a boat or ship and hopefully go downstream. That's the plan for now – any questions?"

I raised a paw. "What if they check the cargo, though?"

"Then we'll give them a run for their money and take their ship!" Sol proclaimed, puffing out her chest to demonstrate her point. There was some light-hearted laughter at her show of optimism. They weren't so different from this morning after all – just a little edgy, I decided.

"I would like to suggest that we seal our clean clothing in a waterproof bag of some sort and wear our old or dirty clothes while in the sewers," the Blaziken said as we began preparing. His advice was taken seriously and soon, we looked a rag-tag group up to trouble – which we probably were from the look of things. The door was opened and we ventured into the cold night.

~ * ~

I grimaced in disgust as my paws squelched in… whatever lined the sewer floors. As the overwhelming smell entered my nostrils, I fought hard not to keel over and vomit over the stench of a whole city's worth of waste. From the way Ri's eyes are watering, I can guess he's fighting that same battle I am. Briefly, I was tempted to laugh, but my instinct told me to keep it down.

"How much further?" Sol whispered to Fahren, who was keeping track of their progress on the map.

"A little more light, Kuro? Okay that's good… We've got another fifteen minutes ahead of us at the rate we're going…"

There was a muffled groan in our group and we kept going. Only Grimers and Muks would like it down here, I thought as I stepped in something, _again_. My nose wrinkled and I sneezed – I felt like I was coming down with a cold.

"Shhh!" Ri hushed me.

I tried to keep my cheeks from going red and apologized abruptly. In the back of my mind, I knew he was just as anxious as the rest of us were. The Torchic had been shivering and had leaned in closer to the grave-faced Piplup, as if hoping to find some comfort in her best friend's presence. Observing their closeness, I wondered if I would become just as familiar to them.

"Achoo!" I sneezed again and sniffled. I_ really_ needed to take some medicine…

"Rrraaaaah!" boomed a distant voice.

Everyone immediately froze. What was that? My hackles rose in fear and the scent of cold sweat pierced through the foul stench of sewer air. Kuro's fire died down to a small trickle, his eyes and ears open for trouble.

There was something coming. I sensed a wild and feral aura pulsing around it – uncontrolled and unpredictable. Where was it coming from? I spun around trying to see it, nearly crying out when I could feel it so close to me yet it wasn't there. It was maddening trying to stay calm, and when the procession down the sewers continued, I almost didn't follow them.

"Do you know what that was?" I whispered to Ri in front of me.

The Pachirisu shook his head rapidly, and I felt fear tracing its icy touch along my spine. When we rounded the corner, it attacked.

Kuro was thrown onto the floor by some sort of monster with yellow eyes. Growling a war cry, Kotre was on it in a second's notice, cutting into the flesh of the beast as it batted him away. The Grovyle struck the wall, hard, but that didn't stop him in the least from getting up.

"Sol!" Ri screamed as the beast turned towards the Torchic, towering over her like a mountain. At the sound of her name, she snapped into focus and leapt to the side fast enough to save herself from its huge teeth.

Wait – what am I doing? Why am I just _watching_? I should be helping, dammit! I rushed in, drawing my paw back and focusing my strength. Power rippling through my paws, I punched its blind side with as much force as I could muster, and it reeled back in pain before it struck out with its long tail. I barely had enough time to bring my arms up before it smashed into my body. A sudden flash of light sprang up in the room and now I could clearly see the monster for what it was.

"No way," I whispered. There was no way that thing could've been natural – I know of some feral Raticates lived in sewers, but I've never seen any of this kind! Bald patches covered the pale fur, exposing ugly lacerations against sickly yellow skin – it stood taller than Kuro and its face was covered with scabbing wounds.

"Rrrraaaaah!" it screeched once more. I covered my ears, trying to block out the ear-splitting sound. A fatal mistake. In my moment of weakness, I had exposed myself to attack. I shut my eyes tight in response to the onslaught as it pounced at me, jaw open and fangs ready… but it never came.

I opened my eyes to see a flash of fire, a blast of water, the crackling of electricity, and the sound of blade meeting flesh. Remembering I was not alone in this battle, I pulled back my paw, balling it up into a fist as I charged the Raticate again. With adrenaline flowing through my veins, I drove my paw forward for a potent strike and was rewarded with a pained growl as my fist connected with its jaw. The monster turned to retaliate, but was struck by powerful jet of water before it could do so.

"Everyone, back!" Fahren yelled. What was the Piplup planning now? There was no time to wonder, though, and I quickly followed her instructions, putting my faith into her leadership. As soon as everyone was out of striking distance, she ordered, "Ri, thunderbolt it!"

Yelling a battle cry, the electric squirrel poured forth a streak of lightning on the soaked mutant-rat. Electricity crackled in the air dangerously as he maintained the flow of power, stunning the beast in a painful hold. I now knew why we were called to retreat – any closer, and we would've been fried as well. "Ready!" commanded the Piplup once more.

I felt my friends' auras flare out prepared an attack. Mimicking their actions, I brought my paws together and from it, an aura sphere glowed. The Raticate shook off the damage defiantly and leapt upwards in a deadly pounce, recovering far too quickly. I felt my willpower slip away as I tried to fight the instinct to strike back. It was just a few meters away from us…

"Fire!"

I thrust my arms forward and unleashed my attack. That, along with the power of four others, was enough to send the beast pounding into the abused wall. I felt a tremor through my feet as it crumpled to the floor, unmoving.

Is it over?

----

_"Where am I?" I called out. _

_In the center of the painfully white room was a cage containing a small, underweight Ratata, crying. I realized that those words were the Ratata's, not mine, and it continued to wail piteously in fear as a Scizor picked the container up and carried it out the room. _

_The world began to spin in a blinding blur and I reached out to grab something. My paw shot out and groped through air as I tumbled forward onto the ground. I looked up to see an operating table with a tray of evil-looking tools. The Ratata from earlier was strapped down on it, squeaking in fear as the surgical knife approached down on it._

_I looked away and heard the agonized screams of the young rodent as his body was being opened for the macabre interests of heartless scientists and researchers. Time crawled by immeasurably, and, still, I looked away. His screams were too much for my ears – I couldn't watch, because I couldn't do anything._

_The world spun again and, this time, I found myself in a small dark cell. The Ratata from earlier laid near the wall, unmoving. My heart sank – had it died? My suspicion was proven wrong when it slowly got up, tumbling over his weak legs… I felt guilty, maybe it was for the better if it _had_ died. _

_The door slammed open and light flooded into the room. I turned around abruptly to see a Scizor walking into the room. _

_"Don't come any closer to the Ratata!" I threatened as my paws glowed with energy. _

_He didn't seem to hear and continued walking… and passed through me like a ghost. My eyes widened – what was happening? Was this some sort of dream? The steel-mantis grabbed the rodent by the tail and dragged it out. Ratata struggled feebly, unable to prevent his next torture. I followed them out the door and saw a Vigoroth holding onto the scruff of Ratata's neck as he pulled out a needle with some sort of bright green solution in it. _

_"Leave me alone…" he whimpered softly as the needle slid underneath his torn skin. "No…"_

_The Vigoroth pushed on the needle unmercifully, emptying the syringe of its strange contents. Nothing had happened at first. Thinking it a failure, Vigoroth prepared to kill it, drawing back razor sharp claws._

_Too early was he in his assumption as the previously weak Ratata leapt up and grappled onto the cruel Pokemon's throat with sharp teeth. With a sickening crunch the body went limp and the rodent leapt off. _

_Security began to pour into the room and Ratata was on the floor, writhing and twitching madly as the drug twisted his insides. Sweat and blood began to soak through his skin and he coughed raggedly. There was a flash of blinding light and the Pokemon evolved into a giant Raticate…_

_It was not right though… It looked to be more dead than alive and I could only stare at it in horror as I realized this was the same creature that attacked our party. _

_The Raticate roared in its confusion and drug-induced madness, whipping around its powerful tail. Even as security Pokemon piled on top of it, the giant rodent shook them all off as if they were nothing more than bothersome flies. In the ensuing battle, at least six more fell to the monster's deadly jaws before the beast succumbed to the thick sleeping powder floating about the room from a Parasect. The security team looked around the carnage uneasily and hesitantly began leaving for the clean-up crew to arrive._

_An Alakazam walked in from the doorway not too long afterwards, followed closely by the Scizor. "What do you want to do with it?" the steel-mantis asked, waving a metal pincer in the direction of the Ratata-turned-feral._

_"It's of no use to us. Release it in the sewers – it has no place on the surface anymore."_

_The Scizor bowed low. "As you wish," he said. Grabbing onto the thick tail of the monstrous Raticate, he began dragging it off into the rapidly expanding darkness._

_The world spun again._

---

"Did we kill it?" I heard Sol ask from behind me. Dazedly, I didn't answer, slowly grasping that I was back in reality. What had happened? I tried to recall and suddenly remembered feeling the weak aura emanating from the Raticate, calling out all who would see and hear his story.

Wearily, Kuro approached it, fists glowing with fire. He kneeled down to check the body for any signs of life.

"Screaah!" A Zubat swooped down from above and flew off.

As Kuro watched it go, I noticed the body was… moving! "Kuro!" I yelled, sprinting forward.

I was too late – the mutant Raticate slashed the Blaziken across the throat with sharp claws, knocking him down. A blue light filled the room as I charged up another aura sphere – the rat closed its jaw around Kuro's throat. My arm whipped out and my mouth opened in a silent scream. The world slowed down and I from the corner of my eye, I could see the horrified look on Sol's face and a surprised expression on Fahren's. Kotre was rushing to help and while Ri stood idly by, stunned.

The sphere met with the monster's side and it went flying, cracking its head on the wall as it did so, never to get up again (may it rest from its tormented existence). Time began returning to the normal flow and everyone rushed over to the fallen Blaziken. Quickly scanning his body for wounds, I saw his throat was torn open. How had he even survived that attack?

Sol was by her father's side, tears slipping down her feathered cheeks as she nudged his head softly, mouthing the word, 'Dad', repeatedly. The others began crowding around slowly, a few of their expressions reflecting guilt. As for myself, I knelt down next to his head and placed a trembling paw on his shoulder, feeling for his aura.

It was fading.

"No…" I whispered. "Kuro, stay with us – we need you!" Faintly, I was surprised at myself. I had barely known this Pokemon…but his inevitable death… He always just seemed to be the type who would be around forever.

The Blaziken raised his bloody hand and placed it gently on his daughter's head. "'fore I leave…" he began in a hoarse voice. It was a wonder he could even talk at all, and it showed. Some of his words, we couldn't hear because his voice was weak. "…you to know… I've always loved you… even if... even if you're not mine…"

"W-What?" There was a pained and confused look on the Torchic's face. "No! Don't say that! Please don't say that!"

To Fahren, he said, "Take care of her… please..."

The Piplup gently held his hand. Squeezing it softly as she said, "I…will."

With that said, he relaxed with a gentle smile. It was then I noticed the line of blood dribbling down his beak, but through it all, he still smiled. Even if I've only known him for just a little while, I felt…wrong. His death was unjustified in my eyes – and if… if maybe that Zubat….or maybe if I had been faster or if one us had followed him… or maybe if I hadn't alerted that monster to our location…I choked out a sob, ashamed. There was no way I could blame it on the Raticate… not under the circumstances it had been acting on.

His eyes were beginning to mist over. "Good luck to you all…" he whispered.

"No… Dad, don't go…" Sol pleaded. "Don't go! Don't leave me!"

The hand slid off her head and the Blaziken mouthed the words 'I love you' once more to his daughter.

Kuro Blaziken closed his eyes… and rested.

~ * ~

The rest of the way to the docks was…uneventful. Everyone had been unnervingly quiet, and the only sound came from distant drippings of water. We had left Kuro's body behind – unable to carry him with us and left most of his possessions behind, save a decorated armband that was tucked in the folds of his clothing. That was kept by Sol as a memento of her father… or at least her foster father. It didn't feel right to leave his body behind in a sewer. Heck – _none _of this felt right. Kuro deserved _at least_ a decent burial, but even that we couldn't give to him. We just _left_ him there, to _rot_. Hot tears were beginning to spring up in my eyes again and I hurriedly blinked them away. I shouldn't be the one crying – not while the ones most important to the deceased Blaziken were here.

His death had affected the little Torchic the most. Her expression was stoic and her feathers, even in the dark, I could tell they had lost some of their luster. She seemed so much more tired and I was hesitant to try to cheer her up. I had only known them for a little after all – I had no right to say anything in this matter. She lagged behind the group and occasionally took a few glances as if watching for trouble. We all knew she was waiting for a Blaziken that would never come, but she persisted still, even when we climbed out of the stink of the sewers.

"Come on, Sol," I called out, extending a paw to her awkwardly

"Hold on," she said, casting a glance over her shoulder. "All clear." I grasped her wing and lifted her up easily.

"There we go…" I whispered.

"Hey!" Ri called out softly. "Take cover!"

Complying with his orders, a flood light washed over as soon as we were in the shadows of the loading crates. I ducked my head down to avoid the blinding lights and awaited further commands.

"Right, coast is clear," the Pachirisu said from over his shoulder.

Nodding in response, Fahren got up and scanned the docks for a sea vessel of some sort. "There," she pointed. It was a medium-sized commercial fishing boat. "Let's go."

Our footsteps were light and silent as we ran towards the moored vessel, taking great care not to step into circle of light sweeping the area. Under the cloak of night, we boarded the boat and hid in the cargo hold, waiting for the fishermen to return.

"We're going to be here for a while." It was Kotre speaking, staring at the entryway with slit eyes. "Sleep, I'll keep watch."

I complied… although a little reluctantly. Hugging my knees to my chest, I leaned back against the wall. Fahren and Sol had a length of rope which they coiled to nest in, while Ri curled up and used his tail as pillow. I shivered a little and sneezed lightly. My cold was still here as it seems… I took a tablet before I slept.

~ * ~

I woke up to a huge roar. My eyes flew open and I looked about, my paws glowing as I readied for attack.

"Calm down." I turned around to see Kotre in the same position as he was last night. He hadn't move from his watch in the slightest. "The boat's just starting up… Fahren's plan is working."

Indeed, the bobbing of the floor increased and I found myself very dizzy. The boat was swaying back and forth, unpredictably as it sailed over the river. What's worse was that I couldn't get any fresh air from in here, and that made it a constant struggle to resist throwing up all over the floor. Stumbling over my feet, I made my way over to the other three who were sleeping soundly despite the loud roar.

Gently, I shook Fahren and Sol awake first. "Hey, the boat's moving," I said softly.

There was mumbling from the Piplup as she rose up and rubbed her eyes with her good wing. Sol was a different story, she was still sleeping, muttering incoherent words in her slumber. My heart went out to the Torchic – his death continued to plague her even in her dreams.

I was tempted to shake her again when a voice stopped me. "Let her rest," Fahren said, her voice soft but oddly audible despite the engine. "She needs it."

Biting the bottom of my lip, I nodded and tried to push the dizziness out of my mind. I woke up Ri and Sol woke up by herself soon afterwards. We gathered around an area hidden by the cargo for another briefing on the task ahead of us. Although no one was officially in charge, we had all tacitly appointed Fahren as the leader – as we should from our run-in with Raticate last night. The Piplup had proved her leadership there, and now, there was barely a doubt to her capabilities.

"Sometime before the fisher goes back to the city," began the Piplup in a hushed voice, "we need to get off of this ship. Last night before sleeping, I noticed there was a life raft hanging stowed away over there." She motioned with her wing to show us. "When the right time comes, I'll take it and jump into the water to prepare the raft. It has to be me – I'm not sure if any of you can survive in the water at this temperature."

She gained a few nods in response before she continued. "When I have it set up, I need you all to go out one of the time. Remember, we're trying to be discreet. If any of us gives away the game, we'll have the authorities down our backs quicker than you can blink. Any questions?"

None of us moved. The plan was clear enough – Piplup goes out, inflates life raft, we follow secretly, and we're out. I swallowed, somewhat nervous.

I only hoped the whole process would be as easy as it sounded.

~ * ~

(A/N): I apologize for the long wait in update. Been busy enjoying my winter break and playing my shiny new Platinum game. :P

At any rate, I'll be posting up tomorrow as well to accommodate the five-review mark. It's now been upped to 15. Remember to R&R so I can get some motivation to finish the 12th chapter.


	6. Others and All I

"It's been confirmed they're not in the city, sir," a Furret reported, saluting smartly to his superior. "However, we have found experiment FE-20 in the sewers along with a dead Blaziken that has been confirmed to be following the group."

"Have you secured both bodies?"

"Of course, sir. They're being taken down to for an autopsy at the moment." A heavy silence fell, and Furret began to fear that he had somehow upset his superior.

"The Blaziken… Take him to the C Wing for preparations…"

Sighing mentally in relief, the rodent asked, "Any orders specifically for the FE-20?

"Do what you want with it," was his response. The Pokémon turned away and teleported, leaving the Furret in the empty room.

~ * ~

The _Hunter's_ bridge was busier than usual today. There were reports of five fugitives traveling south along the Yron River, and, subsequently, they had been commissioned to bring these criminals in for due justice. Needless to say, the first step had been picking up their tracks. For that task, Proelian and his Mightyena brothers had been sent down to find traces of their passing. Even with the help of Erikek Fearow, following had been slow and difficult. The fugitives had a Blade Leaf warrior, notorious for their brutal ambushes and effective guerrilla warfare.

This had been a surprise to the _Hunter's_ crew, but they were determined, nonetheless, to capture them and win their bounty. The pay was extra juicy this time, as criminals not only had a Blade Leaf warrior but also a Riolu with the ability to wield aura spheres. Supposedly, they also had three other Pokémon, but two of them were still in the child stage while the other one was merely just a friend. Those three would be difficult to follow, even if they were the weakest, as they left small and very light tracks if any at all.

The tracking squad, even if they were following cold trails, would eventually catch up to the fugitives. Proelian and Erikek had never failed, and they wouldn't start now.

It was only a matter of time before they were captured.

~ * ~

Even with the cold mid-January winds blowing snow and frost into his eyes, Erikek flew on, undeterred. His keen eyes scanned the earth below, searching for his mark. The gray sky offered no consoling for the Fearow as he braved the strong currents. And through it all… he saw signs of small movement on the ground.

"Erikek to Proelian, do you read?" he spoke through the headset, his voice having a thick and harsh accent leaving proof of his lineage from the Northern Tundra.

"I read. Have you found them?"

The Fearow began a slow dive, honing in on the target. "I believe so – they are a few miles north from the base of the Rittar Mountains…"

A dark voice chuckled from the other side. "Is that so?"

Without hesitance the bird answered, "Yes."

"Our task has been complicated, then."

It was no secret that the Rittars were cold and unforgiving. Throughout the entire day, the winds were fierce and powerful enough to blow a Steelix away. If the fugitives had decided to cut through the mountains, their chances of survival were very low. That meant retrieving the bodies would be difficult, not to mention the effort to search the entire range for wind-blown bodies.

They had to move in now before they entered, otherwise, their mark would be lost. "Issue a request to the _Hunter_ – tell them that we need them at the entrance of the Rittars to effectively cut them off."

"Roger that. This is Erikek to command, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Erikek. Is there something up?" came the voice of a female Linoone.

There was an affirming grunt from the Fearow and he said, "Proelian is requesting for airship to land at the entrance of the Rittars."

"Give me a sec…"

A few minutes passed by in radio static and Erikek huffed, "A second, she says-"

His words were cut short as the headset crackled to life once more. "Alright, Gerai approved."

From the cover of the gray clouds, a great airship began descending in a deliberate manner. The air vessel soon disappeared under the cloak of an invisibility shield and was skillfully landed at the beginning trail leading into the Rittars. A heavy wind howled around the bounty hunters as they assumed their position, lying in ambush for their prey – Erikek had hidden himself behind a rocky outcropping, Proelian and his brothers ducked under the bushes, and Gerai Luxray stood on open ground.

It might have seemed a foolhardy tactic, but the Luxray knew what he was doing. By appearing alone, the fugitives would be lulled into a false sense of security which would be taken advantage of by ambushers. There was a risk that the criminals, especially the Blade Leaf warrior, could see right through his trick, but they wouldn't be able to run far with a pack of Mightyenas chasing them down on foot. And, so, the hunter laid in waiting, settling down on his haunches as he watched the clearing with red eyes.

Some time had passed before he saw their arrival. They pushed through the thicket, quietly but in vain as they walked along. Their eyes were bloodshot, indicating their lack of sleep and mourning over their fallen Blaziken general. With amused eyes, he noticed the Piplup had an injured wing wrapped in dirtied bandages – suggesting it had been some time before they had been changed.

Gerai flexed his claws instinctively as he got up. It was only then did the small group notice him. In the back of his mind, the Luxray already knew they were easy pickings.

The fugitives halted and the injured Piplup stood forward. "Who are you?" she asked, her deep gray eyes hinting well-founded suspicion towards him.

"I am Gerai… and you five would be?" He was humoring them. Hunts were interesting when you played with the prey – that was something the Luxray had learned to enjoy.

"You haven't answered the question though – who are _you_?"

There was something of faint surprise on the Pokémon's face. "I am what I am… A traveler like you perhaps…"

"Enough with the riddles." The Grovyle pushed forward, upsetting the Piplup as he did so, and displayed his charged Leaf Blade attack. As it would seem, the Pokémon preferred a more direct approach rather than his companion's diplomacy. "A straight answer… or else."

Gerai bared his fangs and readied a pounce. "Very well – attack!"

Barely before they could even blink, seven Mightyenas blocked off all possible escape routes – forcing them to fight or be captured.

"Get in a circle formation!" yelled the Blade Leaf warrior, being the one more seasoned in troop arrays. The small group of fugitives managed to pull together a circle, albeit a little sluggish, as they stood back to back to each other. Energy brought the atmosphere to life as they readied their moves.

"Focus your attacks on the Grovyle and Riolu!" the Luxray roared. The battle sprang into action – Erikek swooping down from his hiding place in a brilliant blaze of fire.

The Mightyenas closed in on the group, growling menacingly. One leapt and closed his jaws on the Grovyle's arm, pulsing fire from his fangs as he did so. With a strangled grunt, the Grovyle pulled back his arm and pushed back forcefully, making sure that one of his sharp leaves dug into the wolf Pokémon's side. Another one took the injured Mightyena's place, leaping at the Grovyle. A stinging bolt of thunder from the Pachirisu drove that one away before he could land a proper strike.

From above, Erikek dove like greased lightning, the brilliant flames receding into a blinding blue aura as he struck the Riolu heavily. Blown back from the powerful attack due to typedisadvantage, the temporary gap in rank gave way to the bounty hunters who immediately took advantage of it. Gerai charged them, calling forth the power of thunder from the sky to scorch his prey.

The bolt struck all of the criminals in a flash of white-yellow. The Piplup fell over, unconscious or dead, the Luxray didn't care – all others, even the Torchic, still stood.

There was an anguished yell from one of the fugitives – the Torchic. "Fahren!"

Gerai roared a mighty battle cry and began charging his attack again, but had to redirect it to the storm of leaves flying in his direction. He discharged lightning in the air and halted the storm in its tracks. The falling foliage however, had been a ploy to divert his attention as an intense spiral of flame broke through, blistering the Pokémon. The Luxray held fast though. There was a reason for his title as leader and he showed it through impressive fortitude, managing to keep on his feet for during the whole attack.

He was not invincible though, and his strength slipped away as he held on. In his last waking vision, the Luxray smirked victoriously as the fugitives were overwhelmed by the Mightyenas, Proelian defeating the Grovyle and Erikek knocking out the Riolu. The seasoned bounty hunters collected up the bodies – save the Piplup whose life was slowly ebbing away as her heart was stopping. Water types stood no match to the proud Luxray – and her bounty was relatively small compared to the others. As Proelian boarded the airship, he took one glancing look at the prone body, blood beginning to pool around her from her open beak. Even if the penguin still lived, it would not matter and the effort to resuscitate her was just not worth it. Gerai was a much more important individual to attend to. His wounds would need the focus of most of the medical staff if not all.

~ * ~

Olockus looked over his notes. Or, rather, someone else's notes. These weren't his, but the owner was more or less dead.

_"… Thousands of years ago, a strange phenomenon swept the land. A Pokémon had stolen artifacts known as _Time Gears_, effectively stopping the flow of time in the area where they were situated. The crisis was eventually resolved by two explorers who managed to capture the thief. However, the thief was not acting on the pretense of evil, and it was too late when they realized this. The two explorers and the thief were whisked away to the bleak future by a Pokémon confirmed to be _Dusknoir_."_

_ "_World Paralysis_ had occurred in the future, brought about by the collapse of _Temporal Tower_. The master of the tower, _Dialga_, had gone insane and quickly assumed control, bringing about a dark age of fear. The only way to prevent such a crisis was to collect the _Gears_ and return them to their resting place at _Temporal Tower_. Learning the true motive behind stealing the _Time Gears_, the explorers agreed to cooperate with the thief to return to the past, helping to find the rest of the _Gears_ and to find a way to _Temporal Tower_. En route, the thief sacrificed himself to stop _Dusknoir_, who had returned from the future. The explorers mourned for the loss of a friend, but continued in hopes of finishing what he had started. _

_ Finally, they confronted _Dialga_ himself and through a long battle, the two explorers overcame the Legendary. Quickly, they replaced the _Time Gears_, and _Dialga_ regained his senses. The explorers left for home. However – this victory was not without a price. Nothing ever is. At the cost of saving the future, one of the explorers had condemned himself to fade away, along with the other Pokémon of the future. He was originally partners with the thief before being separated, but _Dialga_, many months later and hearing the partner's sorrow across the sea, gave him back, ending their first great adventure._

_ This wasn't the end. The two of them saved the world a second time from the world falling into an eternal nightmare. They dreamt of _Cresselia_ urging them to sacrifice themselves as they are the cause to the eternal sleep. Their existence is causing a disruption within time and space, a ripple that would eventually envelop the world. The two refused to commit suicide and instead tried to find another cure. They journeyed into the _Spacial Rift_ where they encountered an enraged Palkia. The explorers fought bravely and overcame the legendary, but in the end, they both decided it would be best just to let _Palkia_ kill them and end the eternal sleep. Such was their bravery and love of the world._

Palkia_ reveals he was acting under advice from _Cresellia_ and admits he did not expect the cause of the illness to have a noble heart. However, _Cresselia_ herself appears and stops _Palkia_ from destroying the two. It is then made known that the _Cresellia_ they thought they saw was an impostor, only able to take form in dreams. The one to physically appear before them preached that there was a greater threat and it is revealed that the threat is…_

Darkrai

_ The explorers traveled to his base and it is there they confronted him. A fierce battle followed with the explorers barely coming on top. Even if their victory was imminent, _Darkrai_ had other plans. Great was his power in that he was able to open up a portal of time – but just as he entered, he was struck. This had happened to one of the explorers when they traveled back with the thief. The explorer had lost much of the memory, hardly even knowing their own name. Somewhere, _Darkrai_ would wander, without a shred of an idea to who he was._

_Many regard this story as a myth, but the story was found all over the world in consistency with the end of the first adventure – the sole survivor spread the news and stories of their travels. Birds, hearing this, flew to other areas around the world and let everyone hear of this story._

_ However, no one believed it up until now. Twenty years ago, a cavern was found, literally frozen in time. Scientists were baffled. The only explanation was offered in the legends detailing the exploits of the two explorers, but that would mean admitting the entire story was true – which seemed impossible and fantastical. Others more open-minded believed and felt that they could somehow use the power of a _Twice Savior_. Even if their fighting was legendary, what really caught the eye was the _Dimensional Scream_, an ability to see into the past and future related to an object presented to them. This could potentially end the war – knowing when the enemy was going to strike, what they were planning. It is not mind-reading, but it is dangerously close to it._

_ While it may have been a legend for millenniums, it proved useful to some extent. The trait was thought be hereditary as it passed onto the Twice-Saviors offspring. It is unknown if this gene still exists but it is imperative that the carrier should be found if any progress to the research were to be continued…_

Olockus stroked his moustache while in deep thought. Obviously, they found the carriers; otherwise there wouldn't be a clone. Now the question remained to the Alakazam – where was the clone now? He went back to reading the notes – he wasn't done with them yet.

~ * ~

The small Torchic awoke to a start, her mind confused as her body was bound to a wall. The situation was familiar to her, with the exception of others who were in the same position around her. Kotre, Ri, and Kun-Kun were all there… all but Fahren. A crack grew along her fragile mind as she remembered the Piplup falling to the Luxray's powerful thunder. Her heart dropped in despair and her throat dried. She tried to remain calm – the Piplup was probably alive and she was just overreacting. Maybe…

Talons clicked on the metal floor. Sol looked outside to the hallway to see a Fearow stop by their cell. "So you are awake."

"Where's Fahren?" the Torchic asked, dreading the answer.

"Fahren," he repeated, as if trying out the name on his tongue. He shrugged, "If you are referring to Piplup… She has been left behind."

"Left behind?"

The Fearow nodded. "Yes, Gerai was the one to deliver the killing blow. She is either dead or dying," he callously elaborated.

There was a drastic change in the Torchic. She threw her body against the chains struggling as she yelled, "Go back! Bring my friend back!"

"I am truly sorry," he said, sounding quite the opposite, "but we cannot do these sort of things… Protocols, you see – protocols."

"I don't care about your damned protocols, just give me my friend back!"

Erikek chuckled. The Torchic was a small Pokémon with a fiery spirit. It's as the Westerners say, 'Dynamite comes in small packages.' And the Fearow left, having grown bored of the seething little chick.

With no answer given to her, Sol drew back and leaned against the wall. Her usual friendliness faded into a cold mask of indifference – uncaring of everything around her with the revelation of another's death.

"Ung…" Sol whipped her head around quickly to see Ri stir from his sleep. Slowly, the Pachirisu returned to the conscious world. "Dang, what happened?" he asked, clearly dazed.

Then he remembered the nerve splitting attack from the Luxray. That had left him extremely dazed and open for capture despite being resistant to electric attacks. So they were captured, he surmised. After quickly looking around, he found one missing.

"Hey, Sol, where's Fahren?"

The Torchic tensed up for a while and turned to look at him blankly for a few minutes as if she didn't know what he was talking about. Nothing was exchanged between them, but that was enough to tell the Pachirisu something was up. It took him a few more minutes to realize that his friend might be dead – she did suffer from a type-disadvantage from the Luxray's thunder. A feeling of dread seeped into his thoughts and he tried to reach forward to confront the Torchic. His chains rattled as he strained against them, and in the end, he gave up.

"Is she…gone?" he asked slowly.

There was some hesitance, but Sol slowly nodded in silent affirmation. A heavy atmosphere hung over the two of them. It was Ri who broke the stillness of it all. He strained against his chains once more, reaching forward in a vain attempt to comfort his friend. His paws grazed against Sol's feathers for the tiniest of seconds, but she pulled away and nested far from any of their reach in her bonds. The Pachirisu opened his mouth to call out to her, but he promptly closed it and bit his lip. There was nothing he could say to her that would alleviate the pain.

Instead, he sat against the wall and watched her closely, occasionally striking up a bit of small talk to remind her that they were all here.

~ * ~

_Ten descendants of the _Twice Saviors_ have been located, all similar species in order to create a more stabilized clone. In order to prevent the enemy from mirroring our experiments, the descendants had been killed and retrieved. A batch of clones were 'born' and stayed alive for weeks under accelerated growth. They were fine and acted like normal hatchlings throughout their childhood. Reaching adolescence, was a different story all together. Upon evolving, they do not look like the first stage of evolution. The problem was expected to be because of the DNA spliced several times. The clone will hatch into a certain Pokémon, but once it evolves, its body cannot find the complete set of data for evolution. _

_ A way must be found to suppress evolution. Everstones were ideal for this situation, but it is not something one can find so readily. The clones need to be self-sufficient, otherwise it takes just one movement to throw an everstone and evolving. The answer was found in the raid that was meant to find the tenth descendant. The final component finally found, the clones were 'born' again, this time, they should be able to live._

_ For a year, research went very well. The clones looked liked ordinary hatchlings without a single feather out of place. It would take nearly two decades before the powers manifested themselves, but it was critical that the clones were warped to the government's ideals. That all ended, however, when a scientist went mad without reason and destroyed the facility, murdering anyone who was in his way. He escaped with the clones and his research… However, all but one of the clones died._

_ The three were never successfully located. Probability is high that the scientist sought refuge on the other side of the war. _

_The research cannot be completed without the clone. Any hopes of finding the _Dimensional Scream_ is lost with it, as it holds all the genetic data of the now-deceased descendents within its DNA._

Olockus frowned. Why would there be a contradictory statement in highly classified research notes of all places?

~ * ~

It was only matter of time before Kotre and Kun-Kun learned of the Piplup's death. The Riolu had been thoroughly shocked just as Ri had been. Kotre… he had been a different story. There was no outward change in his behavior, but under all the aloofness and the indifference, he mourned. No words of comfort were passed through them – not even to the Torchic who desperately needed them. With both her father and best friend gone, her connection with reality had been wavering. Sol would often start screaming and crying – other times, she was quiet and thoughtful about the world around her. By the sixth day, her personality changed drastically. She no longer responded to her name and would always be staring coldly at the bars that held them in.

It was late, one night, when Ri woke up to see the Torchic still watching like a statue. "You should rest you know," he called out to her.

There was no response. The Pachirisu continued speaking to her, "Sol… please, just rest. I know you're hurting and everything, but you can't watch forever – if it helps, I'll take your place instead."

"That's not necessary."

"What?"

"I said, that's not necessary," she repeated, her gaze not even meeting his as she spoke.

"But…"

"But what?" she snapped.

The Pachirisu blinked. "This isn't like you," he said, concern visible in the way his voice slightly shook.

The Torchic tilted her head. "How would you know?"

"There's something wrong here," he began, his eyes narrowing in confusion. "The Sol I know doesn't talk like this-"

"The Sol you know is not what you think," she snapped. "I'm Sol Torchic and no matter what you claim, I am who I am!"

The squirrel recoiled, his ears pulled back. Her words had hurt him, she knew that, but she paid no heed. "Sol, I know you're suffering-"

"Suffering doesn't even hold a candle to what I'm feeling," she interrupted, her eyes as black as coal. "You think you may know me, but you thought wrong, haven't you? The two most important Pokémon in the world to me are gone – I have nothing else."

"But you have us!" Ri insisted, waving his paw in a wide arc, indicating to their sleeping companions. "You're not alone, Sol, we're you're friends!"

There was a hollow laughter from the Torchic. "Friends? I don't think you understand – friends lie and cheat you, Ri. They betray – just like all those Pokémon at our trial… just like _you_."

The Pachirisu winced. "But what about Fahren? What was she to you?" he asked, swallowing his nervousness.

"What was she to me…?" Sol turned away from his gaze. "She and Kuro were everything to me… My only true friend and what I thought was my own blood. And now I wonder, who am I? My identity as the daughter of Kuro Blaziken... was a lie. I'm not his daughter."

"He still loved you like his own, doesn't that count for _something_?"

"Maybe," she answered curtly. "It doesn't matter anymore – he's dead and so is Fahren. They've both left me."

"But we're still here!" Ri reminded her. "We are your _friends_, we _care_ about you no matter what you say, you gotta believe that!"

"I don't have to believe anything," she said softly, shaking her feathered head. "Did you know? I once dreamed of flying when I was hatchling. That was something I had wanted the most, and do you know what happened?"

"What?" he asked dumbly. The conversation had taken a strange turn and Ri felt oddly curious about her dreams as hatchling. "What happened?"

"I fell." She turned to look directly at him, her eyes burning with an unfamiliar fire. "I plummeted and nearly killed myself. The moral of this story? Dreams aren't worth chasing."

Ri blinked. This was an entirely different Torchic. The feathers and the body may have been the same, but not the eyes, soul, and mind. He shivered involuntarily. The most dangerous Pokémon were the ones with nothing to lose, and this one had lost everything. The growing fear in his mind made him finally see what was happening – she was going insane. With her father and best friend's death so close to each other, she no longer cared about others.

He opened his mouth, his throat drying in fear of losing another friend. "Then who are you?" he finally asked with some trepidation.

Her eyes were as cold as ever. No emotions were perceived from the emotionally devoid Torchic as she spoke, "I told you – I'm not who you think I am."

~ * ~

At the maw of the mountains laid clear signs of battle – razor sharp leaves, an electric atmosphere, and scorched earth lay proof to all who could see. It was a small skirmish, only one side fighting at its best.

However, even if the ground was damp from blood and sweat, there were no bodies.

~ * ~

**A/N**: This chapter served to provide lore for those people who didn't play PMD2 and explain bits of the story and to tie the game to the story for those who have. I'm really afraid about this chapter – it was originally writ to explain what happened to Fahren, but that would give away the story way too early. Instead, I left it ambiguous. We introduce a couple of new characters here, Gerai and Olockus. What role will the latter play? Who knows!


	7. KunKun II

_Kun-Kun_

"Breakfes' time!" a Croagunk announced.

I blinked my eyes awake and stifled an oncoming yawn. Stretching to the best of my ability, I dragged myself to a half-sitting position, taking a bowl of tan, bubbling gruel as I did so. The stuff tasted bland and, to say at the very least, horrible. I suppressed a grimace as I forced the substance to crawl down my throat, having to constantly remind myself I needed to eat to keep up my strength. No doubt the others were doing the same thing, except for Sol.

Speaking of which, I looked up from my bowl to eye Ri nervously glancing at Sol's direction. He looked anxious and unsettled as if he was going to die any second.

"Ri," I called out as the Croagunk left. "You look edgy – what's wrong?"

"Can't really say," he mumbled quickly. "It's… sorta difficult."

I nodded in false understanding. I didn't know what he meant by 'difficult' but something about Sol seemed to upset him very much. I decided I wanted to know what, so I finished up my 'meal' and set about on the task of reading Sol's aura. I glanced at her direction and had to struggle to read her emotions – she had very strong mental resistances I figured. Nonetheless, I managed to pick up traces of her feelings.

What I found surprised me.

They were full of… hatred and disgust? I winced – the Sol I had come to know was never like that. Even after she had barely recovered from Kuro's death, she was always trying to bring up everyone's spirits, telling silly jokes with Ri or recounting an adventure she had with Fahren in their childhood. During that time, her aura had been naïve and innocent, if not a little dark – so different from what I perceived just now that I'm not even sure it's the same Pokémon. If we had not been imprisoned, I would have never guessed this to be Sol.

And I had to wonder, what triggered this? "Are you…okay?" I asked the silent Torchic.

Her normally lively eyes were charcoal black as she looked up with me with the strangest of expressions. "You read my aura, didn't you?" she asked in a bizarre tone I had never heard her speaking.

"I…might have…" I said, unsure of how to respond. Perhaps confronting her directly on the issue was a bad idea, but it was too late to back out now.

"You did," she stated as a matter-of-factly.

It was no use denying it, I knew that. I shook my head and replied, "Something just seemed very off about you, so… well, you know."

"No, I don't."

I sheepishly looked away from her gaze. "You just seem… not like yourself," I elaborated slowly, terrified of saying something wrong.

"How so?" she asked innocently. It was false – her aura was still malicious.

"You… Your aura – it screams of hate. Why?"

"Hate, you say…" She turned away and I immediately became conscious of two pairs of watching eyes. Ri and Kotre were observing the conversation, I realized and I swallowed to control my uneasiness.

"Y-Yeah… I just thought that it'd be brighter-"

"And why do you think it's like that, Kun-Kun?"

I blinked – the way she had said my name was like she was talking to a stranger, not a friend. "Does it have something to do with Fahren's death, maybe?" I asked, scratching the back of my head awkwardly.

"Then there's nothing to be discussed." And she turned away, leaving me dumbfounded. Just… what was going on with her?

My attention was directed elsewhere when I suddenly felt the airship change its course. We were descending, but why? Had we arrived at the bounty hunter's destination? Would I be executed on arrival? I began fidgeting from where I was chained and tugged nervously my collar and manacles. I sat down and buried my head in my paws, wondering about everyone's fate.

"Prepare for landing, crew!" the P.A system shouted with slight electric feedback, confirming my suspicion.

"Where are we landing?" I heard Ri whisper.

"It doesn't matter where," Kotre replied gruffly. "If we've arrived at wherever these hunters are taking us, then this a good opportunity to free ourselves."

There was a brief pause then the Pachirisu said, "You're right – they're gonna have to open up the cell and release our chains."

"And when they do…" I began, catching on. I looked up to the two conspirators I called friends.

Kotre nodded, saying, "We strike."

We looked over to Sol who was distant from the rest of us. I have no doubt that she probably heard, but I still wonder how she was going to affect this. In the back of my head, I had a sinking feeling it would not work. These bounty hunters surely had some defensive measure against that… It didn't hurt to hope, though.

I heard the swish of a door sliding open and the echoing footsteps of a Pokémon. A fairly young Nuzleaf appeared before us and proceeded to detach the chains from the walls. Ri was first, then Sol, Kotre, and then me. As soon as I felt the chains slacken, I jumped up and hi-jump kicked the Pokémon. With a strangled cry, the Pokémon was sent flying backwards into Kotre who used his chains and quickly wrapped the length of it around the Pokémon's neck. The Grovyle pulled and the Nuzleaf's feet left the ground for a moment as he was being choked. He was released when he fell unconscious, though, and we swiftly made haste out of door. I had no idea it would be that easy…

As I stood outside, I turned to see Sol still there with the Nuzleaf. "There's no time to waste Sol, come on!" I shouted to her.

She appeared not to have heard me and looked to the side nonchalantly. "Don't you wanna escape?" I heard Ri ask from beside me.

"She doesn't even want to try," Kotre explained, shaking his leafed head. "We've no time for those who would stay behind – we need to get moving."

"But what about all the other Pokémon in here? Should we release them?" I asked, and the cacophony of begging prisoners grew intense from my suggestion.

Covering his earholes, the lizard shouted to the din, "Shut it or we're leaving all of you!"

The effect was almost immediate and there was a harsh silence in the cell room. Keys from the Nuzleaf were procured and we found ourselves wondering which cell to open first. It would do no good for us if we released a murderer or a thieving bandit. I began reading the imprisoned Pokémon's aura, determining if they were 'good' enough to be released. All eyes were on me for a few tense seconds as I concentrated.

"These," I gestured to a few cells, "are too dangerous to be freed. All others, your freedom is guaranteed if you will fight alongside us."

There was murmur of agreements as the Pokémon were freed. The sounds of joyous cries, metal hitting the ground, and the hiss of collars pried off echoed in the room. Soon, we had our own miniature rag-tag army standing at attention. There were a few young, no older than hatchling that we had to leave behind. Luckily, a motherly Kanghaskan volunteered to look over the small group from the safety of the cell room. A couple of more volunteered to guard them and left the main group. The others were given orders to storm the airship and take it by force.

I gave a small nod to the Grovyle, and he pried open the door. Pokémon rushed past him in an eager attempt to obey their orders and take the airship by force. As our own little group began making its way out, I glanced back to see Sol. Against my better judgment, I ran backwards and left the keys near her talons. With a solemn smile, I ran out again, the corner of my eye noticing the small tilt of her head.

Noises of battles sprang up around the airship. "We need to find the bridge – if we control that, we control the airship," Kotre said to us as we bounded down the hallway.

A Golem briefly came into our path, roaring, "Halt!" with a gravelly voice. When we failed to comply, it rolled up into a tight ball and began rolling towards us at breakneck speeds.

Without a second thought, I smashed the palm of my paw into the rock-armor, triggering spidery cracks from where I struck. The Pokémon fell back, wheezing as the air was forced from his lungs. As I ran along with the others, I rubbed my smarting paw as small pulses of pain shot up in my arm. Kotre turned around for brief second to finish off the dazed golem with a storm of leaves.

~ * ~

The door flew open as I struck it heavily with my paws, the steel crumpling around my arm like paper. Pokémon leapt at me, but did not get far as they were thrown back by a storm of whistling leaves and a spray of crackling thunder. A Mightyena retaliated, leaping at me with dangerous fangs. In response, I focused my punch on the jaw and it connected with a sickening crack as the wolf flew backwards from my blow.

Faintly, I felt a drip of blood flowing from a cut on my arm, but I ignored it as the bridge transitioned into a battlefield. The crew Pokémon were easy enough to handle between the three of us – a Linoone went flying into the air and landed heavily on her back and a Croagunk was sprawled across a control panel with more to follow them. Prisoners poured in from the smashed doorway, joining in the fray as they fought for their freedom.

And while we fought, I noticed a Luxray standing at the observation point, taking in the scene of battle below him. I recognized him as the one called Gerai whom we had encountered nearly a week ago. His appearance… Sol's attack left its mark – red flesh scarred one side of his face and trailed down to nearly the entirety of his left side.

Energy began spiraling around him as he opened his mouth to fire some sort of attack on the Pokémon fighting below. It didn't matter whether they belonged to his crew or not. I pointed upwards and I'm pretty sure I yelled something, but I couldn't remember clearly if I did. Others looked towards the direction indicated and time seemed to slow down as it once had for me. The lightning attack was ready now and I saw the glimmer of murder in his eyes as he threw back his head to unleash it. Pokémon around me closed their eyes and threw up their arms to shield themselves.

The attack never came.

A spiral of flames erupted from the doorway and collided with the thunder, leaving a fiery trail. I turned, even though I already knew who it was. Sol stood there, her eyes still cold, but her body language spoke of difference.

"You again?!" roared the Luxray, he leapt from his vantage and pounced upon the tiny Torchic.

She dodged immediately to the right and tackled him with ferocity. Hate burning in her black eyes, and she said, "Yes, _again_."

There was a rumble emitted from the lion's throat as his anger and frustration was made apparent. "Attack!"

From wherever they had been hiding, the rest of the Mightyenas along with the Fearow emerged. "There they are!" Kotre shouted as he knocked a Sandslash to the side. "Ri!"

Ri immediately began climbing the wall for a vantage point while Kotre and I engaged the Mightyenas in close combat. Adrenaline pumped through my veins and my actions became a blur as I struck out with a chain of repeating kicks and punches.

I yelped in pain as a Mightyena crunched his jaws into my shoulder and I released an aura sphere at close range. The wolf was sent flying into a nearby wall, creating a dent around him as he impacted. Another pounced upon my back and forced me to the ground as I grasped onto the heavily bleeding wound. I knew I couldn't fight back from that position and if something wasn't done, I would die within the next second. I flailed around madly, trying to get leverage.

There was a small whistling noise and the burden on my back immediately lightened – Kotre stood over me, the leaves on his arm glowing with power. Seizing the window of time he had offered me, I sprang back onto my feet and punched a nearby Mightyena's nose, regaining my momentum in battle.

A shadow engulfed the ground below me for a second, and I chanced a brief look up to see the Fearow coming in for a blow. Uncaring, I turned back as a white-blue blur latched itself onto the bird's back, and I still didn't look even when I heard the sounds of thunder and the smelled the scent of burning feathers. I knew Ri had performed his part of the plan and it was up to Kotre and I to fulfill ours by defeating the Mightyenas.

Although I had a clear type advantage, the wolves could use Fire Fang, which spelled out trouble for Kotre. Fighting back viciously, he had managed to keep them away from him by alternating between Leaf Storm and Bullet Seed and then cutting them down with Leaf Blade if any were to come out close. It was effective as long as he kept up his stamina, but from the way I noticed him breathing with difficulty, I knew we had to finish the battle before we risked losing it all.

I rolled to the side as Mightyena pounced where I had once been. A thought entered my head for the slightest of seconds and I smirked – I had grown to completely trust the Grovyle over the past few days as I had with everyone else. I fought harder then I previously did, putting forth more effort knowing I had a partner covering my back and another covering the sky for us.

Ducking underneath what would've been a deadly pounce, I brought my paws together, channeling aura there and subsequently releasing it into the pack of Mightyenas where it did some real damage. Some of them flew backwards and even fewer manage to stand their ground from my strike. I landed, panting heavily as I prepared for any attacks. Kotre stood next to me, his Leaf Blade glowing with energy as he readied himself.

"Arrgh!"

Everyone averted their attention to the Luxray picking himself off the floor. Sol stood across from him, the only wound visible being the relatively small cut on her cheek. "And Gerai Luxray met his end," she said mockingly as if recounting some far-off fairy tale.

Her beak open and flames began to fly out, but the lion dodged in time. "No, it is never over!" he roared at her. His hackles raised, and he charged at the Torchic recklessly, lightning swirling around his black-furred form. He leaped up in high arc, a battle cry ripping from his throat as he descended upon his prey.

Sol stood firmly rooted the ground, her expression stoic – mirroring the one Fahren always wore in critical situations. Gerai closed in, his jaws dangerously drawing near her throat. The Torchic gave a spine-chilling smirk and her body began to shine red. Putting all of her energy into that one move, the room was swept with a blistering heat and some with type-disadvantages dropped to the floor in agony as they began to smoke. Kotre was no exception – he kneeled on the ground, thin wisps of steam rolling off his body.

There was burst of blinding heat, and a body fell to the ground. Gerai Luxray was defeated.... "It was over from the beginning," Sol nonchalantly announced.

She fell forward, her strength worn.

~ * ~

I stood behind a Linoone, a crew-member we had taken hostage of to pilot the airship, watching her every action.

"Could you not do that?" she asked, not even tearing her gaze away from the screen. "It's unnerving."

"I have my orders – if it's making you uncomfortable then you just have to deal with it," I said and then adding, "You have no choice rea- wait."

There was a panel near me with small blips surrounding the center of the screen. The little dots…were they coming closer? "What's that suppose to mean?" I asked the Pokémon.

She bit her lip for a moment but then gave way. Reluctantly, she replied, "Those are either other aircrafts or bird Pokémon coming to inspect the plane-"

"There's a message!" someone shouted from the opposite side of the bridge.

"Display it!" Kotre yelled back.

The Pokémon, a Loudred, fumbled with the controls for a bit until a holographic display came up in the center of the room. The distinguishable helmet of Dusknoir came up in view, a red orb gleaming evilly behind it.

A hollow voice spoke, its effect as if the speaker was really here in the airship. "Luxray has failed, I see… I would suggest that you surrender now before you meet a rather _nasty_ fate."

Kotre, the current figurehead of our prisoner group, replied, "Surrender is not an option we're willing to take."

The ghost-type merely laughed. "That's how I prefer it, anyway – let it be then that, on this day, you have spelled your fate!" The hologram disappeared from view and an uncomfortable silence engulfed the room. Words unspoken, the crew members redoubled their reluctant effort. Between the choices of being prisoners and dying by the hand of the government they had once served, the decision had been clear and they were suddenly much more agreeable.

Suddenly, a blue, filmy bubble swallowed up the airship. "Shields on," someone said. "Firing canons all set to go."

The interior of the vessel sprang to life as everyone rushed to man a station to fight, myself joining up with them. Following the signs, I manage to make my way into a chamber where the gun stood waiting for wielder. Without a second thought, I jumped up to the seat and buckled myself in securely. A targeting screen flashed in front of my vision and I nearly jumped in shock at the suddenness of it all. The interface began to read out all sorts of air activity, indicating where my enemies were in the sky

I regained my cool once again, and allowed myself to relax for a little while. The echoes of rapid movement still filled the hallways, from what my ears could still hear. Most of these Pokémon were not military fighters, I knew, and struggled to find their task on board. I had none of that experience myself, but I knew enough from a life of running to keep me alive by the end of the day.

As the first enemy appeared on my aiming interface, I aimed and hesitantly pulled the trigger. The idea of killing had never sunken in for me, and it certainly hasn't now. My shot missed naturally, and I barred my mind from anxiety as I took aim again.

I strike in self-defense, today, not to kill, I told myself. With a firm grip, I fired again.

~ * ~

One. Two. Three. Reload. One. Two. Three. Reload.

Ten minutes have gone by and the rhythm of killing stays in my head. Three have already fallen to my ill-aimed shots – two were birds while the third had been a fighter jet, and there were more to follow if we couldn't get away in time.

One. Two. Three. Reload.

Make that four, I corrected myself. There was a small explosion in the distance as the aircraft exploded, and there were still many out there in the skies. Canon fire would not hold forever. Wait what was that? I frowned, thinking I had heard a voice calling out to me. Shaking my head to free myself from distractions, I turned back to my work.

One. Two. Three. Reload.

_"No!"_

_"Oh g-"_

_"I don't want to die! I don't want to d-"_

_"Aahh!"_

My paws immediately clasped onto my ears and I pitched forward in my seat, the belt buckles straining to keep me in place. The noise… No, not noise – the aura of dying Pokémon reached my ears as we sent them to the otherworld. Some of those were ones who had family and friends to return to and some were just poor Pokémon needing a job – and their deaths came partly by my paw. I was suddenly disgusted with myself and I lurched forward, bitter bile rising in the back of my throat. There was no way I could keep doing this, at least, not with the knowledge of the impact of my actions.

"Leave me alone," I mumbled to the maddeningly escalating voices. But still… they screamed.

_"Someone help me!"_

_"This is the end, I just know it!"_

The airship suddenly trembled from a strike and I felt a rush of reality coming back to me. If… If I didn't kill, even more were to fall by cruel hands. I kill…to save, I realized. It was a cruel irony, but it just had to be done. There was no other solution. I pushed myself back into my seat and pushed away my emotions, numbing myself to their pain. My paws, now steady with resolve, held the controls once more.

One. Two. Three. Reload.

~ * ~

We were losing. The shield energy was dangerously low and there was no possible way it could hold out longer – the enemy would be able to board and some gunners would have to abandon their position to counter the flow of Pokémon that would board. The airship pitched forward and the blue film cascaded downwards, disappearing. There was another rumble and the ship shook violently.

"We have a breach on the bottom deck, I repeat, a breach in the bottom deck!" Ri's panicked voice came through the intercom.

Bottom deck? I paused for a minute to remember where that was. "Oh gods," I whispered, wide-eyed. Fumbling with the buckles, I manage to pry them off and made a mad dash for the stairs. The bottom deck – that was where the infirmary was. And in that infirmary rested an exhausted Torchic I had come to know as a friend.

"Hold on, please," I pleaded with some invisible force. My mind was racing almost as fast as my paws were, considering all the possibilities that could happen. I couldn't fail her – not when I had already failed Fahren.

I leapt across the railing and fell down all three decks until I hit the bottom. Breathing hard, I landed shakily, even with Riolu agility, and looked up, paws glowing with an aura sphere in hand. Wildly, I looked around for any foes and forced my aching legs to carry me further to the infirmary just a little down the hallway. I reached the doorway and banged on the closed door.

"Is everyone alright?" I called. "Open the door, someone!"

Nothing stirred. Frowning, I pressed my ear against the metal and listened closely. There was no noise, either. Dread slithered down my spine and I knocked again. "Hello? If no one's going to open the door, I'm knocking it down-"

"Zat vould be _very_ helpful!"

I spun around quickly to see a Scyther charging me with his razor-sharp claws. Surprised, I manage to clumsily duck under his deadly swipe and follow through with a weak uppercut. The mantis was only slightly fazed and tackled me to the ground as I was recovering from his earlier attack. Jumping on top of me, he raised both moon-shaped scythes and brought them down.

"No!" I yelped. My paws shot out in front of me and grasped onto the wrists, stopping the arc from slicing into my flesh. I drew my legs underneath the mantis and kicked upwards as hard as I could.

The insect fell backwards a few feet and scrambled to get up as did I, but he managed to regain his balance faster due to his wings. Having that advantage, Scyther began swiping at me, the blades humming with death as they neared my flesh. My agility was the only thing keeping me alive; otherwise, I would've been a pile of dead Riolu meat. I winced as I sidestepped another attack, the tip had caught my shoulder. It went on like this for a few more minutes, Scyther on the offense and me struggling to dodge as I backed up. There was no opening for an attack, and at this rate, I would be driven against the wall with nowhere to go.

I had to avoid that at all costs.

Dropping to all fours, I barreled forward into his abdomen rammed, sending us sprawling for a few seconds. Working as fast as I could, I grabbed onto both blades and reversed our earlier position, the Scyther on the bottom and I attempting to end the battle by killing him with his own weapons. I had the advantage, I knew, due to my greater strength and pressed down even harder. There was a snap and the wrist I had been holding onto went limp. Scyther screeched in pain and flailed around, struggling madly as he broke free from the grip. I was thrown off, smashing my head into the wall. Stars exploded in my head and my vision swam – I became vulnerable for a few key seconds.

Pain – I could feel it in my already wounded shoulder – where the Mightyena had already bitten me – stinging with white-hot pain as a blade was driven into it. I screamed out as it twisted and burrowed into the bleeding flesh and I opened my shaking vision to see the Scyther, limp wrist and all, glowering down at me with triumphant eyes. Warm blood seeped from the wound as the mantis pulled out his arm, raising it to deal the final blow…

I hung my head in resignation, tired with fighting.

But I wasn't ready to die.

I jerked back into reality and rolled to the side, barely avoiding a head-cleaving blow. I was the last one. I intend to be the last living one of my kind. The order still had hope so long as I walked these hostile grounds. Scyther, confused from my sudden recovery, had no time to avoid a savage kick to the face. Thrown back, the mantis attempted to get up. I leapt on top his chest, pressing down so that he would hold still. I wrenched his other wrist – the one not broken – and twisted it behind his back.

His head craned backwards. Terrified, brown eyes looked up to me, tacitly pleading mercy. But I couldn't. The minute I gave this Pokémon mercy, he would backstab me. Enough killing had happened today, and I didn't want to do it again, but I had to. Tears sprung from my eyes and I bit my lip in regret on what I was going to do.

"Goodbye," I whispered, and aura sphere surged from paws and connected with the Scyther. Suffering a point-blank attack, the body went limp.

That was it. Gone.

I took the ranking armband off the motionless corpse, using it in place of bandages as I dressed my wound. Whimpering, I tightened the knot and stood up, a small limp plaguing one of my legs. I dragged myself to the wall near the infirmary's door, deeming it the only place I could reach.

A faint smile played at the corner of my lips. It was fate, I think, playing a cruel irony on me. The infirmary was only a few paces away, but the door was still locked, barring me from the medical supplies I desperately needed. I was too exposed out here, and no doubt there would be others coming down the hallway. And then, with one of their own dead, they would settle the score with my life.

But for now… I would live. Maybe long enough to get help – maybe long enough to see my end.

My only hope lied on the shoulders of those in the above decks. If they won and came fast enough, I would be saved. Until then… I would wait for what will come around the corner – my salvation or my end.

I slipped off into unconsciousness.

~ * ~

(A/N): The next few chapters are gonna be high in action and some emotional conflict, I'm thinking. Battle scenes are very sketchy for me and some of them don't seem to flow as naturally as I hoped it would, but I think they're rather passable. Some character development will happen in the next chapter, but it feels sort of strange to me. This is my first time writing a multi-chaptered story with an active hope to finish it. So R&R folks. I want to know what _you_ think. :D


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